lllillll  lllill  i  IlliSi^SSilvli 


?r 


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EVANDER 


EVANDER 


BY 

EDEN    PHILLPOTTS 


AUTHOR    OF 


"the  girl  and  the  faun,"  "a  shadow  passes" 
"  delight,"  etc. 


? 


NEW   YORK 

THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1919 


r  r\ 

E  9  2- 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.     How  Festus  Wedded  Livia 

PAGE 
I 

II. 

The  Disciple  of  Apollo  . 

II 

III. 

Apollo  and  the  Wolves  . 

•              27 

IV. 

The  Selfish  Oread  . 

44 

V. 

Faunus     .... 

59 

VI. 

A  Sad  Chapter 

77 

VII. 

Apollo  and  Evander 

83 

VIII. 

Bacchus  and  Festus 

97 

IX. 

The  Pain  of  the  Price     . 

114 

X. 

Livia  Laughed 

130 

XI. 

A  Puteal 

14S 

XII. 
XIII. 

The  Naiads 
Woe  of  Evander 

156 

165 

XIV. 

Apollo  and  Bacchus 

181 

i 


I 

HOW  FESTUS  WEDDED  LIVIA 

IN  time  past  lawful  marriage  might  only 
be  contracted  among  the  nobler  folk. 
Patricians  alone  enjoyed  the  privilege, 
so  that  many  admirable  wives  were  lost  to  the 
community  and  many  good  men  denied  the 
pleasure  of  exhibiting  a  husband's  virtues.  It 
is  not  easy  for  us  to  imagine  a  high  civilisation, 
wherein  the  upper  ten  alone  were  permitted 
this  domestic  delight  ;  but  thus  it  happened, 
until  came  the  tribune,  Canuleius,  who — 
advanced  spirit  that  he  was — perceived  and 
declared  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things  to 
prevent  the  marriage  of  the  middle  classes. 
Nay,  this  innovator  went  farther,  and,  greatly 
daring,  claimed  that  every  Roman  citizen 
might  become  a  husband,  if  it  so  pleased 
him. 

B  I 


EVANDER 

Heaven  was  sustained,  though  we  may  sup- 
pose the  forum  thundered  with  fierce  and 
bitter  opposition,  for  doubtless  your  patri- 
cians resented  with  all  their  might  so  grave  an 
instalment  of  progressive  legislation.  The 
populace  began  to  wed — charily  at  first,  then 
with  greater  trust ;  and  since  the  gods  smiled 
upon  their  nuptials,  even  the  rag-picker,  or 
dustman  felt  he  might  take  a  wife  without 
affront  to  Olympus. 

From  the  Latins  to  all  the  Italians  this 
prodigious  boon  presently  extended,  and  when 
Caracalla  donned  the  purple,  he  conferred 
marriage  as  a  royal  gift  on  every  inhabitant  of 
the  Roman  Empire. 

Thus  we  find  that  even  Caracalla,  an 
emperor  for  whom  few  just  persons  spare  a 
smile,  can  claim  one  item  on  the  credit  side  of 
his  sanguinary  account. 

But,  by  Apollo  and  Bacchus,  who  shall 
dogmatise  on  this  great  subject  ?  Has  not 
marriage  itself  been  weighed  in  the  balance 
of  public  opinion  and  found  wanting  ?  The 
invention  loses   its   old,   four-square  majesty. 

2 


HOW  FESTUS  WEDDED  L1V1A 

Indeed,  what  institution  but  grows  ruinous 
and  moss-covered  in  these  our  days  ? 

Moreover,  while  the  gods  were  held  to  com- 
mend all  lawful  unions,  they  themselves  could 
not  deny  that  even  in  celestial  circles  the 
marital  state  worked  not  to  much  edification. 

No  shadow,  however,  had  crept  over  mar- 
riage when  the  woodman,  Festus,  desired  to 
wed  Livia,  the  daughter  of  Carmenta,  the 
washerwoman.  For  their  humble  class,  a 
vernal  bloom  of  youth  still  graced  the  rite. 
They  were  themselves  pioneers — the  very  first 
in  that  hamlet  to  venture  upon  the  doubtful 
privileges  and  certain  obligations  of  wedlock. 
It  was,  indeed,  counted  something  of  an 
eccentricity  when  the  young  man's  intentions 
proved  strictly  honourable,  and  the  pagan  folk 
doubted  whether  Festus  were  not  taking  him- 
self and  Livia  almost  too  seriously. 

There  needed  a  pinch  of  the  heroine  in 
your  soul,  also,  to  wed  if  you  happened  to  be 
a  washerwoman's  daughter  in  those  days,  and 
Livia,  when  she  accepted  the  woodman,  while 
earning  uneasy  admiration  from  certain  of  her 

3 


EVANDER 

friends,  won  some  sneers  among  her  more 
conservative  sisters,  who  professed  to  prefer 
freedom  and  evaded  the  rite  from  choice,  or 
missed  it  from  necessity. 

Indeed,  the  Mrs.  Grundy  of  that  village 
looked  with  doubting  eye  on  marriage  and 
feared  that  it  might  open  a  door  to  many 
things  not  convenient. 

But  as  soon  as  Festus  won  Livia's  love,  they 
agreed  to  snap  their  fingers  at  convention, 
pretend  to  be  patricians  and  enter  into  the 
great  mystery  of  united  life.  After  she  ac- 
cepted him,  he  begged  her  to  fix  the  day  and 
let  it  be  soon  ;  but  the  careless  wight  was  not 
aware  that  May  must  be  avoided  and  that  the 
first  half  of  June  would  fail  their  purpose. 
Indeed  all  the  dies  religiosi  and  the  calends, 
nones  and  ides  were  equally  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, if  he  desired  Fortuna  to  smile  upon  their 
experiment. 

"  The  better  the  day,  the  better  the  deed," 
said  Festus,  a  free  and  easy  spirit  who  took 
no  thought  for  the  morrow. 

"  Not  at  all,"  answered  more  cautious  Livia. 

4 


HOW  FESTUS  WEDDED  LIVIA 

"  We  must  court  no  needless  risks,  sweetheart. 
It  is  well  known  that  a  great  many  months 
are  unpropitious  to  the  marriage  of  men  ;  and 
did  we  take  our  vows  on  some  day  sacred  to  a 
god,  or  goddess,  we  should  make  a  powerful 
enemy  from  the  first.  But  all  are  agreed  that 
marriage  must  be  entered  into  with  as  few 
handicaps  as  possible,  and  we  will  not  go  out 
of  our  way  to  complicate  what  may  prove 
difficult  enough  in  any  case." 

"  Be  hopeful,"  said  Festus.  "  I  am  no 
authority  on  the  sacred  days,  Jupiter  forgive 
me,  but  so  that  Bacchus  smiles,  all  will  be 
well.  Find  an  occasion  that  promises  to  give 
us  a  run  for  our  money,  my  sweet  treasure, 
and  the  quicker,  the  better." 

She  obeyed  him  and  at  a  time  when  religion 
was  powerless  to  frown,  they  wedded. 

The  pair  dwelt  in  a  rude  village  beside 
Lake  Larius,  and  since  this  was  the  first  enter- 
prise of  the  kind  celebrated  among  those 
purple  hills,  they  sent  for  a  flamen  skilled  in 
the  rite,  who  directed  them  how  to  proceed. 

Livia's  hair  was  arranged  in  six  dark  locks, 
5 


EVANDER 

and  she  had  more  than  enough.  Upon  her 
head  she  wore  a  wreath  of  valley  lilies  and  alpen- 
roses  of  her  own  gathering,  and  she  shrouded 
her  brow  in  a  scarlet  veil.  Her  tunica  was  of 
spotless  white,  woven  without  seam  and 
fastened  by  a  girdle  of  wool.  A  victim  being 
slain — a  little  lamb — the  auspices  were  taken 
and  the  contract  completed.  Then  her  mother 
having  led  Livia  to  Festus,  they  joined  hands 
and  lifted  their  prayers  to  the  watching  gods. 
There  followed  the  sacrifice  of  a  bull  calf  on 
the  public  altar,  and  the  smoke  of  it  ascending, 
drifted  far  over  the  lake. 

A  feast  came  next,  and  Carmenta,  the 
washerwoman,  did  the  best  in  this  matter 
that  her  means  allowed.  There  was  a  mess  of 
flesh  and  fowl  with  onions  and  olives ;  white 
bread,  lettuces  and  curded  cheese  ;  chestnut 
cakes  with  herbs  ;  dried  figs  and  apricots  and 
withered  fruit  of  the  wild  pear.  Much  red 
wine  went  to  the  banqueting  and  sweet 
liqueurs  made  of  heart's-ease  and  cypress.  Not 
till  the  shadows  fell  huge  from  the  hills  to  the 
waters   spread   beneath   them,   did   they   stop 

6 


HOW  FESTUS  WEDDED  L1V1A 

eating  ;  not  before  the  first  firefly  twinkled 
a  little  lamp  along  the  ilex  groves,  had  the 
wedding  guests  drunk  all  there  was  to  drink. 

Then  night  fell  and  Festus,  taking  Livia  in 
his  arms,  bore  her  from  her  mother  with  show 
of  violence,  to  the  shrill  cackling  of  women 
and  laughter  of  the  men. 

Torch-bearers  led  the  way,  their  pitch- 
pines  blazing  and  making  the  blue  dusk  red  ; 
flute-players  pierced  the  Italian  peace  and 
gaily  squeaked  ;  while  the  folk  sang  the 
Fescennini  in  rough  Saturnian  verse.  They 
belonged  to  Silvanus — his  festival,  but  chimed 
with  the  business  of  the  time,  and  the  jesters 
with  raddled  faces,  who  rollicked  to  right  and 
left  of  the  bridal  pair,  spared  no  wit  to  give 
point  to  the  pagan  humour  and  ribald  merri- 
ment of  their  ancient  song. 

Through  the  trees,  or  at  the  edge  of  the 
waters,  there  peeped  nymphs,  goat-foot  fauns 
and  other  immortal  creatures  of  lake  and 
mountain,  vale  and  forest,  who  spied  upon 
humanity  with  wonder  when  the  world  was 
young.     They  perceived  that  an  event  out  of 

7 


EVANDER 

the  common  was  being  celebrated  and,  of 
their  friendship,  joined  the  laughter,  though 
the  jokes  were  beyond  their  comprehension. 

Two  boys,  whose  fathers  and  mothers  still 
lived,  walked  beside  Livia,  and  a  third  lighted 
her  feet  with  a  white-thorn  torch  to  guard 
against  magic,  or  any  evil  fairy  ;  while  behind 
her  were  borne  the  spindle  and  thread,  symbol 
of  wifely  duty.  Festus  threw  walnuts  to  the 
boys  and  signified  thereby  that,  as  a  husband, 
he  put  away  childish  things  for  ever. 

Then  came  they  to  the  exceeding  modest 
home  the  bridegroom  had  provided  for  his 
wife,  and  Livia  anointed  the  door-posts  with 
oil  and  fat  and  decked  them  with  woollen 
fillets.  Over  the  atrium  she  was  lifted  and 
welcomed  by  her  husband  in  the  partnership 
of  fire  and  water,  which  is  to  say  domestic  life 
and  worship.  For  the  gods  from  the  first 
made,  or  meddled,  with  marriage,  and  some 
are  even  recognised  as  the  august  patrons  and 
supporters  of  the  state.  Marriages,  indeed, 
were  always  made  in  heaven,  but  such  was  the 
strain,  when  the  demand  became  so  vast,  that 

8 


HOW  FESTUS  WEDDED  LIVIA 

they  had  to  be  turned  out  wholesale  and 
Olympus  henceforth  declined  to  guarantee 
the  quality. 

Now  Festus  and  Livia  prayed  to  Talassio — 
the  unknown  god  of  marriage — that  they 
might  be  happy  ;  the  epithalamy  was  chanted 
and  the  young  pair  left  in  peace. 

A  full  moon  sailed  above  the  clearing  where 
they  were  to  dwell ;  the  revellers  departed  to 
their  homes  ;  a  kind  old  woman  wiped  away 
the  mother's  natural  tears. 

"  Fear  nothing,  Carmenta,"  said  she. 
"  Festus  is  a  good  man  and  will  use  her  well 
if  she  obey  him  in  all  things  and  minister  to 
his  comfort.  Moreover,  when  he  is  weary  of 
her,  he  cannot  cast  her  off.  Even  though  he 
hate  her,  yet  must  they  now  live  together 
until  death  separates  them." 

"  That  is  why  I  weep,"  answered  Carmenta, 
"  for  love  hath  wings  and  flies.  Marriage,  so 
far  as  I  have  grasped  it,  is  love  on  a  chain,  and 
one  may  not  keep  a  wild  thing  on  a  chain,  for 
it  will  the  sooner  perish." 

"  True,"  answered  the  other  ;    "  but  it  is  a 

9 


EVANDER 

quality  of  this  thing  called  marriage  that  it 
begetteth  a  new  sense  between  the  male  and 
female.  It  is  designed  for  the  dignity  and 
security  of  women,  so  that  when  love  is  out- 
worn, they  may  still  reap  the  reward  of  their 
sacrifice  and  the  respect  and  position  proper  to 
the  mothers  of  those  to  come." 

"  If  marriage  begetteth  a  new  sense  in  man, 
it  is  well,"  answered  Carmenta  ;  "  he  needs 
manv  new  senses  ;  but  men  are  men  and 
women  are  women,  and  freedom  is  the  only 
road  to  peace." 


10 


II 

THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

HE  was  called  Evander  after  that  son 
of  Hermes  and  an  Arcadian  nymph, 
who  shone  in  goodness,  founded  the 
city  of  Pallenteum  on  the  hill  afterwards  called 
Palatine,  and  introduced  the  arts  of  music  and 
writing  and  the  worship  of  Pan,  whom  the  Latins 
named  Faunus.  That  Evander  was  indeed 
worshipped  at  Rome  as  a  god,  having  his  altar 
set  on  the  Aventine  ;  and  our  Evander,  son  of 
Cornelius,  the  fisherman,  alive  to  the  distinc- 
tion of  his  name,  lived  worthy  of  it  from  his 
youth  up.  He  caught  fish  to  help  his  father, 
but,  at  twenty  years  of  age,  he  better  loved  to 
exhort  the  people  and  improve  their  minds. 
To  Apollo  he  dedicated  his  days  and  practised 
the  self-denial  and  austerity  beloved  of  Phcebus. 
Concerning  sin,  indeed,  he  knew  nothing,  since 

ii 


EVANDER 

that  fantastic  concept  had  not  yet  come  into 
the  world  ;  but  with  crime,  its  sleepless  issues 
and  undying  consequence,  he  was  familiar. 
Therefore  he  strove  to  turn  the  Larian  folk 
from  evil,  edifying  all  men  by  the  dignity  of 
his  discourse  and  the  purity  of  his  days. 

To  him  goodness  belonged  as  a  second 
nature,  and  if  he  ever  wondered  in  the  phan- 
tasm of  human  existence,  unrolled  around  him, 
it  was  why  goodness  appeared  beset  with  such 
difficulty  for  his  fellow-creatures,  while  wrong- 
doing, despite  its  notorious  sequel,  yet  attracted 
the  majority  of  them. 

He  was  of  a  placid  countenance,  large-fea- 
tured and  lofty-browed.  The  spiders  of  thought 
had  already  woven  their  first  webs  upon  his 
forehead  ;  but  his  eyes  were  bright,  his  mouth 
was  firm,  his  voice  as  clear  and  cold  as  a  moun- 
tain brook  at  dawn.  He  never  hastened  about 
anything.  The  steadfast  quality  of  his  intellect 
was  reflected  in  the  distinction  of  his  actions, 
his  reserved  gestures  and  judicial  and  balanced 
utterances. 

He  ate  no  meat  and  partook  only  of  inani- 
12 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

mate  life.  Pot-herbs  and  roots,  corn  and  the 
harvest  of  fruit-bearing  and  nut-bearing  trees 
sustained  him  and  clarified  his  thought.  He 
drank  water  and  frowned  upon  wine,  though 
he  had  doubtless  permitted  himself  the  poisons 
of  tea  and  coffee,  after  the  manner  of  our  own 
intellectual  vegetarians,  had  those  beverages 
been  then  within  the  reach  of  ancient 
Italy. 

Once  he  had  lived  on  the  eastern  borders  of 
Larius,  but  the  hamlet  where  his  mother  died 
in  giving  him  life,  proved  not  large  enough 
for  his  missionary  instincts  and  the  rude 
people  who  dwelt  therein,  feeling  uneasy  at 
the  near  presence  of  such  waxing  virtue,  had 
urged  him  to  seek  other  fields.  When  he  hesi- 
tated to  oblige  them,  these  pagans  so  far 
neglected  the  light  as  to  insist  upon  their 
native  son's  departure. 

Therefore  Cornelius,  the  fisherman,  and 
Evander  departed  in  their  little  boat  ;  and 
the  father,  with  paternal  pride,  cursed  his 
neighbours  for  their  folly. 

'  You  will  be  proud  in  time  to  come  and 

l3 


EVANDER 

lift  a  statue  to  my  boy,"  said  he  ;  while  they, 
after  the  manner  of  barbarians,  declared  that 
they  would  prefer  his  statue  to  himself.  "  His 
pillar,"  said  these  benighted  folk,  "  shall 
surely  adorn  our  shores,  if  his  fame  ever  re- 
sound from  the  other  bank  ;  and  for  our  part, 
being  homely  men  with  much  upon  our  hands, 
we  would  rather  enjoy  the  after-clap  of  his 
glory,  than  endure  those  activities  upon  which 
it  may  be  built." 

They  believed  it  uncomfortable  to  live  with 
heroes,  holding  that,  such  is  the  weakness  of 
our  nature,  we  can  best  look  upon  their 
statues  and  rejoice  in  their  fruits,  when  time 
has  removed  the  fierce  life  force,  mellowed  its 
processes,  obscured  its  asperities,  and  kneaded 
its  accomplishment  into  the  common  wealth 
of  human  progress. 

On  the  western  border  of  the  lake,  Evander 
presently  became  an  institution,  and  all  men 
admitted  his  remarkable  attainments.  He 
dwelt  in  a  hut  near  his  father  and  did  not  fish 
very  often,  but  preferred  to  advance  morals 
and  attack  error.     It  was  his  earnest  purpose 

H 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

to  improve  everything,  uplift  everybody,  and 
lead  the  least  and  greatest  to  Apollo. 

An  example  of  this  indiscriminate  en- 
thusiasm awaits  us  upon  the  occasion  of 
first  meeting  Evander. 

Sitting  before  his  door,  speculating  on 
ethical  subjects,  there  came  before  him  a 
smoke-grey  kitten  with  amber  eyes.  She 
carried  her  tail  erect,  as  a  cat  will  who  in  her 
own  opinion  has  done  a  good  deed,  and  in  her 
mouth  appeared  a  glittering  dragon-fly,  which 
the  little  creature  had  captured  from  a  bed 
of  rushes  beside  the  lake. 

Now  the  kitten  had  not  escaped  Evander's 
care  for  the  improvement  of  all  life,  and  he 
was  still  seeking  to  wean  her  from  flesh  or  fish, 
since  it  seemed  to  him  that,  given  a  vegetable 
diet,  she  would  cast  off  those  ferine,  feline 
qualities  which  make  against  society.  He 
even  hoped  that  she  might  develop  a  measure 
of  altruism  and  the  power  to  see  other  points 
of  view  than  her  own.  For  he  had  not  failed 
to  mark  that  both  the  greater  and  lesser  cats 
are    self-centred    and    inclined    to    put    their 

15 


EVANDER 

personal  welfare  before  the  good  of  the  com- 
munity. The  kitten,  therefore,  failed  of  that 
applause  she  expected,  and  the  fact  that  she 
had  done  a  clever  and  original  thing  was  not 
taken  into  account  by  Evander.  It  was  the 
young  man's  golden  rule  to  regard  every 
enterprise  from  the  standpoint  of  morals  and 
justice  ;  and,  viewed  in  this  white  light,  much 
that  happens  will  not,  of  course,  bear  inspec- 
tion. He  took  the  dragon-fly  from  the  kitten 
and  shook  his  head  to  find  the  insect  was  no 
more. 

"  Live  and  let  live,  little  beast,"  he  said. 
"  Respect  your  neighbour  and  recollect  that 
his  place  in  the  cosmos  is  empty  if  not  filled 
by  him.  Remove  him  therefrom  and  you 
create  a  vacuum  and  wound  nature.  Enlarge 
your  sympathies  until  they  extend  to  cover  all 
things  ;  then  only  will  you  attain  a  synthetic 
understanding  and  perceive  that  to  destroy  the 
life  of  a  fellow-creature  is  to  endanger  the 
universal  scheme.  This  dragon-fly  had  his 
claim  upon  society.  He  was  a  person  of 
repute  with  a  natural  history  of  the  greatest 
16 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

interest.  For  years  he  dwelt  beneath  the 
water  ;  then  his  apotheosis  brought  him  into 
the  air  and  he  hoped  to  rejoice  in  the  beams 
of  Apollo  while  the  summer  lasted.  But  your 
ruthless  paw  has  deprived  him  of  his  short- 
lived joy  and  struck  him  into  an  early  grave. 
His  link  with  the  infinite  is  broken  before  its 
time  ;  a  dissonance  is  created  ;  the  world  is 
so  much  the  worse  for  the  thing  you  have 
done." 

Thus  he  spoke  from  force  of  habit,  for  he 
had  to  be  talking.  Then  Evander  went 
farther  and  looked  among  his  papers,  because 
he  was  a  poet  also  and  had  learned  to  write 
and  read  and  set  down  his  thoughts  in  good 
Latin. 

"  I  have  here  some  observations  on  the 
dragon-fly,  and  a  valuable  moral  induced  by 
study  of  the  insect,"  he  said,  and  he  read  these 
verses  to  the  kitten. 

A  dragon-fly,  when  from  the  water's  edge 

He  cometh,  though  perhaps  the  vulgar  doubt  it, 

Will  leave  his  waterproof  upon  a  sedge, 

Then  spread  his  wings  and  fly  away  without  it. 

c  17 


EVANDER 

But  presently,  at  sign  of  coming  rain, 
Feeling  a  little  nervous  of  the  weather, 

He  seeks  to  don  his  waterproof  again, 

And  finds  that  he's  outgrown  it  altogether. 

Nov/,  though  a  dragon-fly  won't  see  the  force 
And  hidden  lesson  of  this  observation, 

You,  with  your  quicker  senses,  may,  of  course, 
Should  morals  have  for  you  some  fascination. 

Cast  down  but  not  convinced,  the  smoke- 
grey  kitten  stole  away — to  catch  another 
dragon-fly  if  it  might  be  possible ;  and  Evander, 
cheered  by  the  sound  of  his  own  voice,  set 
forth  upon  a  mission  he  had  already  con- 
templated. 

The  marriage  of  Festus  and  Livia  interested 
him  exceedingly.  He  held  marriage  a  hopeful 
and  helpful  contrivance,  and  trusted  that  it 
would  become  more  common.  Indeed,  in- 
spired by  Apollo,  he  had  long  proclaimed  the 
need  for  this  contract ;  he  gave  great 
praise  to  Festus  and  Livia  and  promised  them, 
with  confidence,  the  blessing  of  the  more 
important  gods  upon  their  union. 

Now  he  walked  to  visit  the  youthful  pair 
18 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

and  found  them,  after  a  fortnight  of  wedded 
life,  still  happy  and  well  content.  As  he 
entered  their  rough  dwelling,  they  were  sitting 
down  to  a  little  meal,  and  Evander,  unknow- 
ing that  Festus  had  procured  them  at  some 
trouble  for  Livia,  ate  up  a  whole  platter  of 
red  radishes  while  he  talked.  He  believed 
that  he  was  taking  the  food  that  mattered 
least,  while,  in  reality,  he  devoured  the  master 
dish  of  the  banquet.  But  nothing  is  so  easily 
misunderstood  as  humility. 

"  A  vegetarian  can  be  as  greedy  as  anybody," 
said  Festus,  after  Evander  was  gone.  His  wife, 
however,  reproved  him  ;  she  entertained  the 
highest  respect  and  admiration  for  their  guest, 
and  knew  that  he  walked  with  Apollo  and 
could  say  something  worth  hearing  in  any 
ear. 

Having  eaten  the  radishes,  but  failed  to 
mark  the  cloud  upon  the  eyes  of  Festus  as  he 
did  so,  Evander  invited  their  opinion  of 
matrimony. 

"  It  is  true,"  he  said,  "  that  one  sees  more 
of  a  thing   from  outside  than   from  within. 

l9 


EVANDER 

Thus  we  do  not  ask  a  mite  his  opinion  of 
cheese,  or  take  our  judgment  of  a  pear  from 
the  maggot  who  dwells  at  its  heart.  Yet  the 
mite  and  the  maggot  have  their  own  intimate 
point  of  view,  and  the  point  of  view  is  every- 
thing. Only  by  collating,  comparing  and  con- 
trasting points  of  view,  do  we  arrive  at  the 
truth  about  any  subject  ;  for  truth  herself  is 
many-sided  and  from  that  effulgent  jewel 
flash  rays  of  rainbow  light,  that  to  Livia  are 
purple,  to  Festus  golden,  to  Evander  emerald, 
or  ruby.  Thus  knowledge  is  only  reached  by 
the  combined  experience  of  all  men,  and 
hence  w7e  find  that  a  community,  a  city,  a 
nation,  is  wiser  than  its  chiefest  citizen, 
subtler  than  its  deepest  philosopher,  braver 
than  its  bravest  soldier,  and  juster  than  its 
first  lawgiver." 

"  Not  here,"  said  Livia.  "  You  know  more 
than  all  of  us  put  together." 

Evander  raised  his  symmetrical  hand  for 
silence,  for  he  resembled  other  great  talk?rs 
and  disliked  being  interrupted. 

"  Concerning  marriage,"  he  said,  "  we  know 
20 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

that  the  institution  descended  from  the  gods 
to  the  patricians,  and  in  process  of  time  has 
now  been  extended  to  our  plebeian  selves. 
Whether  the  heathen  and  hyperboreans  will 
ever  receive  and  accept  it,  Jupiter  alone  can 
say.  It  is  enough  for  us  that  we  have  marriage, 
and  I  feel  profound  confidence  that  if  we 
enter  the  state  in  a  humble  spirit,  as  learners  ; 
if  we  trust  the  gods ;  if  we  give  and  take,  and 
recognise  that  women  are  honourable  crea- 
tures and  the  complement  of  men,  created, 
as  it  were,  for  his  completion — if  we  honestly 
recognise  that  the  weaker  sex  is  necessary — 
nay,  vital — and  therefore  worthy  of  that 
honour  we  extend  to  all  necessary  and  vital 
things,  then,  as  they  create  the  home,  minister 
to  our  comfort  and  provide  the  vase  from 
which  our  sons  and  daughters  shall  bloom,  we 
must  accord  our  wives  all  respect  and  endear- 
ment. We  must  consider  their  requirements, 
treat  them  with  affection  and  even  admira- 
tion, if  they  prove  meritorious.  While  they 
work  for  us,  we  must  also  work  for  them,  so 
that  home  life  shall  be  a  beautiful  and  con- 
21 


EVANDER 

tented  thing  and  the  inspiration  of  the  gods 
justified  among  men." 

"  In  fact,  you  must  treat  them  as  you  find 
them,"  suggested  Festus,  while  Evander  re- 
covered his  breath. 

Festus  was  a  mountain  man  of  great  physical 
strength  and  genial  nature.  He  loved  the  ways 
of  the  hills  and,  lacking  distinguished  ideals, 
yet  possessed  a  sense  of  justice  and  a  generous 
and  kindly  nature.  But,  as  many  generous 
and  kindly  men,  he  did  not  deny  himself  the 
privileges  he  extended  to  others.  He  enjoyed 
the  good  things  of  life,  when  he  could  come  at 
them,  and  his  patron  god  was  Bacchus.  Too 
much  a  primitive  to  understand  the  higher 
branches  of  the  Dionysian  cult,  or  to  grasp 
more  than  a  little  of  all  that  mighty,  and  ever 
youthful  divinity  implies,  he  knew  that  he  had 
given  man  the  grape,  that  he  smiled  upon  the 
poor  and  humble,  and  frowned  not  upon  the 
joy  of  life. 

Therefore  he  worshipped  devoutly  and  ex- 
plained to  Livia  that  she  must  pray  to  Bacchus, 
who  cared  for  all  woodmen  ;  while  she,  from 
22 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

a  general  and  not  very  lively  religious  sense, 
which  sacrificed  at  any  altars,  now  abandoned 
Venus,  in  deference  to  a  general  opinion 
that  the  Foam-born  was  not  in  her  element 
on  the  married  couch,  and  very  properly 
accepted  her  husband's  god. 

But  Livia  had  an  emotional  and  volatile 
nature.  Her  god  at  this  period  of  her  young 
life  was  really  none  other  than  Festus  himself. 
She  owned  an  impulsive  heart,  considerable 
vanity  and  little  judgment. 

Evander  proceeded  and  told  them  many 
things  well  worth  knowing.  His  information 
appeared  without  limit  and  embraced  the 
whole  rule  and  conduct  of  married  life, 
although  he  was  a  stranger  to  it. 

You  will  have  marked  a  characteristic  touch, 
for  while  the  wonderful  young  man  began  his 
discourse  with  a  question,  he  had  not  stopped 
for  Festus,  or  Livia,  to  answer  it,  but  chose  to 
do  so  himself — the  mark  of  a  great  talker  all 
the  world  over. 

Presently  Evander  departed,  and  Festus,  in 
his    simple    fashion,    regretted    that    he    had 

23 


EVANDER 

eaten  Livia's  radishes ;  but  she  was  happy  at 
what  she  had  heard  and  attached  no  import- 
ance to  that  incident. 

"  His  words  are  music,"  she  declared.  "  If 
we  could  remember  but  half  of  what  he  told 
us,  how  wise  we  should  be  !  " 

"  And  yet  I'm  sorry  for  him  in  a  way," 
ventured  Festus,  as  he  picked  up  his  axe  and 
prepared  to  return  to  the  forest. 

"  Sorry  for  him  !  Surely  never  was  a  man  for 
whom  one  had  less  to  mourn,"  she  explained. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  anybody  who  never  laughs," 
declared  Festus. 

"  He  never  sees  anything  to  laugh  at," 
declared  Livia. 

"  Exactly — that's  why  I'm  sorry  for  him. 
Even  Jupiter  laughs." 

"  But  not  Apollo,"  answered  his  wife,  "  and 
doubtless  the  true  servants  of  Apollo  imitate 
him  in  that  matter." 

"  It  may  be  so,  my  squirrel,  but  Bacchus 
does  not  frown  on  laughter  and — well,  there 
are  times  in  a  man's  life  when  there  is  really 
nothing  to  do  but  laugh." 

H 


THE  DISCIPLE  OF  APOLLO 

"  I  hope  we  shall  always  laugh,"  she  said, 
"  if  it  be  not  wrong.  Yet  they  who  laugh  not 
are  on  a  higher  plane,  even  as  the  eagle  is  above 
the  woodpecker.  The  woodpecker  indeed 
laughs  loud  enough  ;  but  the  eagle  soars 
too  near  Apollo's  sun  to  find  matter  for 
laughter." 

"  Give  me  the  woodpecker,"  answered 
Festus.  "  He  is  the  bird  of  Mars  and  follows 
in  the  train  of  Bacchus.  He  was  a  king  among 
men  once  on  a  time — a  king  of  Latium — and 
Circe  turned  him  into  a  bird,  because  he 
would  not  love  her.  So  he  has  had  his  troubles 
like  the  least  of  us  ;  but  he  does  not  forget  to 
laugh  at  them." 

Meantime  Evander  went  his  way,  cheered 
with  that  sense  of  well-doing  which  it  was  his 
daily  privilege  to  enjoy. 

Presently  he  met  his  father,  Cornelius,  re- 
turning from  fishing.  The  old  man  looked 
hot  and  weary. 

"  I  will  carry  those,"  said  Evander,  taking  a 
heavy  string  of  lake  trout. 

"  It   would   have   been   better   still   if   you 

^5 


EVANDER 

had  helped  me  to  catch  them,"  answered 
Cornelius. 

"  I  have  been  encouraging  Livia  and  Festus," 
he  replied. 

"  Get  a  wife  yourself,"  returned  his  father. 
"  We  need  a  woman  in  our  home." 


26 


Ill 

APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

LIVIA  ascended  into  the  woods  that  she 
might  bring  Festus  his  dinner.  She 
J  carried  the  food  in  a  frail,  and  more 
than  her  husband's  little  skin  of  wine  and 
pasty  of  baked  meat  she  bore,  for  the  girl 
had  friends  on  the  heights  and  brought  a 
present  for  them  in  the  rush  basket. 

Her  way  led  five  thousand  feet  upward  to 
a  green  plateau.  Here  she  rested  for  ten 
minutes  and  then  climbed  again. 

Still  higher,  the  crags  of  a  mountain,  with 
precipices  round  about  it,  ascended  to  a  summit 
veiled  in  cloud.  Streamlets  leapt  above  the 
gorges  and  flung  crystal  threads  into  the  air. 
They  fell  and  their  waters  shouted  to  the 
hills,  with  echoes  higher  and  higher,  fainter 
and    fainter,    till   they    died    away    aloft    and 

27 


EVANDER 

beneath.  In  the  valleys  there  stared  out 
rusty  wounds  on  many  woodlands.  They 
marked  where  charcoal  burners  laboured, 
stripped  the  pelt  of  the  brush  and  calcined  it. 
A  feather  of  smoke  swung  out  beside  these 
naked  spaces  and,  above  them,  little  homes  of 
men  clung  together  for  protection  against 
their  loneliness.  The  tassels  of  the  chestnut 
were  breaking  into  blossom,  mile  upon  mile  ; 
white  robinia  hung  out  scented  tresses  and 
every  dene  and  dingle  was  a  feast  of  orange 
lilies  and  valley  lilies,  columbines  and  delicate 
white  wood-rush.  Far,  far  beneath,  Larius 
lay,  like  a  fragment  of  green  silk  thrown  down 
between  the  mountains,  and  northward  of  the 
climber,  the  lesser  waters  of  a  little  lake  were 
cuddled  under  a  hill  and  shone  like  a  dark 
cat's  eye. 

And  now  Livia  met  her  friends.  While  she 
reclined  and  let  the  wind  from  upper  snows 
cool  her  forehead  and  dry  the  straying  strands 
of  hair  upon  it,  there  came  a  noise  as  of  a 
flight  of  starlings.  But  they  were  feet,  not 
wings,  that  made  the  sound,  and  there  galloped 
28 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

to  her,  light-footed  as  a  flock  of  kids,  the 
Panisci,  or  little  Pans.  These  fairy  folk  had 
horns  and  hooves,  and  tails  no  larger  than  a 
rabbit's  scut.  They  stood  eighteen  inches 
high  and  were  not  loved  of  the  people,  for  the 
rogues,  though  only  baby  fauns,  were  exceeding 
mischievous  and  delighted  to  pester  human  kind 
with  pranks  and  practical  jokes.  They  sent  bad 
dreams,  turned  the  milk  sour  and  lured  away 
the  flocks  upon  the  hills.  Therefore  wise 
women  made  friends  of  the  imps  and,  though 
they  won  small  service  of  them,  at  least 
escaped  their  persecution.  Some  believe  that 
the  Panisci  are  Pan's  baby  brothers  ;  but  the 
more  learned  suspect  they  may  be  his  children. 
It  matters  not. 

Now  their  whimsical  faces  clustered  round 
Livia  and  their  little  agate-coloured  hooves 
trod  on  her  toes. 

"  Our  cakes !  "  they  cried,  and  so  pushing 
were  they,  that  the  girl  gave  their  leader  a  box 
on  his  prick  ear  and  told  him  to  behave  him- 
self. He  wrinkled  up  his  little  flat  nose  and 
was  going  to  cry,  when  she  brought  her  gift 
29 


EVANDER 

from  the  basket  and  gave  the  faunlet  a  round 
cake  made  of  millet  and  honey.  So  he  forgot 
hi3  tears  and  buried  his  bright  yellow  teeth  in 
the  dainty. 

They  laughed  and  stuffed  till  all  the  cakes 
were  gone.  Then  they  tumbled  into  her  lap 
and  climbed  upon  her  back,  and  tickled  her 
naked  feet  and  asked  her  to  make  a  game. 

"  I  must  take  my  husband  his  dinner,"  she 
told  them. 

"  Give  it  to  us  instead,"  said  the  Panisci. 

"  You're  greedy  pigs — all  of  you,"  she  de- 
clared. "  I'm  sure  I  don't  know  why  I  love 
you." 

They  looked  at  her  with  innocent  yellow 
eyes  ;  then  two  fell  to  fighting,  and  standing 
apart,  butted  at  each  other  till  the  thud  of 
their  hard,  little  skulls  sickened  Livia. 

"  Stop  it  !  "  she  ordered.  "  Come  here  and 
be  good,  and  I'll  tell  you  a  story." 

They  loved  a  tale  and  clustered  round  her  ; 

but  none  heard  a  story  that  day.     Suddenly 

from  above,  where  the  hill  fell  and  a  shaggy 

moraine  hung,  spread  like  a  cloak,   from  the 

30 


APOLLO  AND  "THE  WOLVES 

shoulders  of  the  mountains,  there  came  a  very- 
strange  and  melancholy  sound.  It  echoed  in 
the  air  and  seemed  also  to  creep  over  the  earth 
— the  ululation  of  a  hundred  hungry  throats. 

"  Never  mind  that,"  said  the  Panisci  as 
Livia  started  up  to  fly,  "  it's  only  the  wolves." 

"  All  very  well  for  you,"  she  answered,  and 
her  cheek  grew  pale.  "  They  can't  hurt  you, 
but  they  can  eat  me." 

Her  hearers  shouted  with  shrill  laughter, 
for  they  had  no  hearts. 

"  We  will  stop  and  see  Livia  eaten  by  the 
grey  wolves !  "  they  said. 

But  one — from  wisdom  rather  than  senti- 
ment— cast  doubt  on  this  hope. 

"  If  they  eat  her,  she  will  bring  us  no  more 
cakes  of  millet  and  honey,"  he  told  the  rest. 

Thus  the  gravity  of  the  situation  dawned 
upon  them  and  they  looked  to  the  broken 
ground,  over  which  already  streamed  a  pack 
of  hunting  wolves.  Escape  was  impossible,  as 
it  seemed. 

"  Pray  to  Apollo  !  "  cried  a  faunlet.  "  The 
wolves  are  his  beasts  and  in  his  keeping." 

31 


EVANDER 

"  And  climb  up  that  rock  before  you  pray," 
directed  another,  who,  though  a  baby,  was 
not  born  yesterday.  e<  It  will  be  easier  for 
Phoebus  to  save  you  if  you  are  out  of  reach  of 
their  teeth." 

Livia  leapt  up  a  solitary  rock  that,  like  a 
monolith,  spurred  on  the  hill,  and  the  jaws  of 
the  wolf  leader  snapped  vainly  six  inches 
below  her  right  foot.  But  her  husband's 
dinner  was  gone  in  an  instant,  and  the  Panisci 
danced  and  screamed  with  delight  as  the 
wolves  bit  into  the  wine-skin  and  the  red 
wine  dabbled  their  noses.  They  shook  their 
muzzles  and  sneezed,  for  they  were  not  wine 
drinkers  ;  then,  with  the  patience  of  savage 
beasts,  which  is  one  of  the  things  which  makes 
them  so  horrible  to  impatient  humanity,  they 
squatted  panting  round  the  rock  to  wait  for 
Livia.  Her  perch  was  precarious ;  her  strength 
would  not  enable  her  to  hang  on  for  many 
minutes ;  and  the  wolves,  to  whom  time  was 
nothing  and  dinner  everything,  took  their 
stations  for  the  banquet.  If  dinner  turned 
into  supper,  or  even  resolved  itself  into  break- 
32 


APOLLO  AND  "THE  WOLVES 

fast,  it  mattered  not.    Here  was  a  dainty  dish, 
worth  waiting  for. 

The  wolf  leader  spoke  :  "  All  women  are 
liars,"  he  declared.  "  Only  last  week  I  passed 
a  cottage  where  a  child  was  crying,  and  heard 
the  mother  say  she  would  fling  it  to  the  wolf 
if  it  made  that  noise  again.  So  I  sat  down  to 
wait,  and  presently,  when  the  babe  wept  more 
loudly  than  before,  I  lifted  my  voice  at  the 
threshold  and  said,  '  Behold,  I  am  here, 
madam.'  But  did  I  get  the  baby  ?  No.  I 
only  had  a  red-hot  brand  from  the  fire  across 
my  snout.    There  is  no  truth  in  the  creatures." 

"  Pray  to  Apollo,"  shouted  Livia's  friends. 
"  And  he  will  rescue  you  if  he  has  time." 

"  Alas,  I  worship  Bacchus,"  she  answered, 
hugging  the  rock. 

"  Apollo  may  not  know  it,"  they  replied. 

The  wolves  lifted  their  steel-bright  eyes  to 
her.  Some  rested  their  noses  between  their 
front  paws,  like  watching  dogs ;  some  scratched 
themselves ;  one  bit  at  a  thorn  in  his  foot. 
And  Livia  called  upon  the  Delphic  god  to 
save  her. 

D  33 


EVANDER 

The  response  was  practically  instantaneous. 
Light  suddenly  burned  from  a  myrtle  thicket 
fifty  yards  away — a  clear,  ineffable  fulgency 
that  expanded  every  way,  like  a  mighty  star. 
Then,  in  the  midst  of  it,  they  saw  the  god's 
celestial  form,  as  it  had  been  a  man  made  of 
purest  silver.  He  raised  his  bow  arm,  an  arrow 
flashed  singing  through  the  air  and  the  leader 
of  the  wolf  pack  leapt  and  fell  dead,  shot 
through  his  heart.  He  quivered  in  every  limb, 
gave  one  great  sigh  and  was  still,  while  the 
blood  trickled  from  his  side. 

The  faunlets  jumped  for  joy,  while  the 
dead  wolf's  companions,  mad  with  terror, 
tumbled  over  each  other  to  be  gone,  and 
vanished  in  a  grey  stream,  like  turbid  waters 
running  up  hill.  The  Panisci  followed  them, 
for  they  disliked  Apollo,  who  was  not  fond  of 
children. 

The  god  approached  and  gave  Livia  a  divine 
hand  to  help  her  down.  His  glorious  face  was 
the  colour  of  ivory  ;  his  wide  eyes  were  blue 
as  the  noon  sky  ;  golden  curls  crowned  his 
broad  and  beautiful  brow.     His  mouth  was 

34 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

firm  and  nobly  modelled,  and  his  expression 
majestic  and  changeless  as  marble.  A  ghost 
of  the  archaic  smile  haunted  his  countenance  ; 
but  it  was  not  connected  with  any  perception 
of  humour.  He  drew  his  arrow  from  the  wolf, 
replaced  it  in  his  quiver  and  unstrung  his 
bow. 

Livia  fell  on  her  knees  and  uttered  thanks- 
givings. She  blessed  him  for  his  mercy  and 
prompt  attention  ;  she  commended  his 
miraculous  skill,  and,  allowing  enthusiasm  to 
outrun  tact,  she  specially  praised  him  for  suc- 
couring one  not  of  his  fold. 

A  shadow  passed  over  the  divine  forehead 
at  her  word. 

"  Do  you  not,  then,  pray  to  me  habitually  ?  " 
he  inquired,  with  a  voice  of  music. 

"  I  pray  to  Bacchus,"  she  answered,  and 
Apollo  frowned. 

"  Why  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Bacchus  is  my  husband's  god,  Divine  One, 
and  it  seemed  good  to  him  that  we  should 
adore  at  the  same  altar." 

"  One  of  those  easy  generalities  which  serve 

35 


EVANDER 

to  conceal  careless  thinking,"  Phoebus  answered 
coldly.  "  Bacchus  is  no  god  for  women.  His 
vogue  is  based  on  a  crude  pragmatism,  Livia, 
and  he  relies  for  his  success,  not  upon  the 
strength,  but  the  weakness  of  human  nature. 
A  god,  even  as  a  man,  is  judged  by  the  company 
he  keeps,  and  it  should  be  enough  for  mortals 
to  know  that,  behind  his  parade  of  creature 
comforts  and  profession  of  good  fellowship 
and  conviviality,  there  lurks  in  my  half- 
brother  a  very  ugly  customer.  Bacchus  is  no 
friend  to  the  mortal  race  and  his  boasted 
gift  does  a  great  deal  more  harm  than 
good.  You  were  better  without  it  ;  but  such 
is  his  jealousy,  that  those  among  you  who 
appreciate  this  truth  and  seek  to  decline  the 
grape,  he  forgives  not.  His  motives  are  far 
other  than  you  imagine,  for  he  plots  to  see  all 
mankind  bound  to  him  in  the  tendrils  of  the 
vine,  which,  weak  as  infant  hands  at  first, 
grow  gradually  stronger  till  they  hold  the 
accursed  weed  to  the  trellis  and  defy  the 
storm  to  break  it  down.  How  different  my 
service  !     How  superior  my  appeal !  " 

36 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

"  I  will  tell  Festus,"  faltered  Livia.  "  He 
is  a  very  sensible  man  and  would  not  willingly 
worship  danger." 

'  There  is  enough  peril  in  the  world  with- 
out courting  it,"  answered  the  Lord  of  Light. 
"  By  all  means  tell  him  what  I  say  ;  and  if 
you  would  hear  more  concerning  me,  invite 
my  servant,  Evander,  to  your  humble  board." 

"  Thankfully  we  will  do  your  bidding, 
Mightiest  One,"  replied  Livia  ;  whereupon 
Apollo  vanished,  and  the  young  wife,  still 
trembling  from  her  terrific  adventure,  has- 
tened away  to  the  forest.  In  half  an  hour  she 
heard  the  sound  of  a  woodman's  axe  ringing 
not  far  distant,  and  soon  discovered  Festus 
destroying  a  great  pine  tree. 

Two  bacchants  stood  by,  waiting  for  the 
russet-brown  cones  that  would  presently  fall. 
But  Festus  was  not  in  a  good  temper.  For 
the  first  time  in  her  life,  Livia  beheld  that 
ruthless  gleam  which  lights  the  eye  of  a  hungry 
man,  and  heard  the  harsh  accents  that  accom- 
pany hunger.  In  fact,  Festus  put  his  lady 
horribly  in  mind  of  the  wolves.     He  greeted 

37 


EVANDER 

her  with  open   annoyance,  showed  his  teeth 
and  asked  for  his  dinner. 

"  Fire-drakes  and  furies  !  "  he  cried,  "  how 
much  longer  am  I  to  earn  your  keep  on  an 
empty  stomach  ?  " 

Her  story,  of  course,  appeased  him,  for  he 
was  a  large-hearted  woodman  and  loved  Livia 
very  dearly.  He  kissed  her,  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  thanked  Bacchus  devoutly  for  her  escape  ; 
upon  which  his  wife  reminded  him  that  it  was 
Apollo  who  had  come  to  the  rescue. 

"  The  Panisci  bade  me  call  upon  him, 
because  the  wolves  are  his  creatures,"  she 
explained. 

"  Bacchus  would  have  been  quite  as  quick ; 
and  he  wouldn't  have  preached  a  sermon 
afterwards,  but  given  you  another  dinner  for 
Festus,"  said  a  bacchant. 

"  Of  course,"  declared  Festus.  "  He  would, 
at  least,  have  made  good  our  wine-skin." 

"  I  have  seen  him  squeeze  the  grapes  that 
wreathed  his  hair  into  the  cup  of  a  thirsty 
man,"  added  the  bacchant.  "  Did  you  ask 
Apollo  about  Daphne  ?  " 

38 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

"  Certainly  not,"  replied  Livia.  "  One  is 
not  familiar  with  the  gods." 

"  Some  like  it,"  answered  the  bacchant. 
"  Jove  both  makes  and  takes  jokes." 

"  I  have  never  seen  Apollo,"  said  Festus. 
"  What  is  he  like  ?  " 

Livia  considered,  then  a  happy  illustration 
occurred  to  her. 

"  He  is  like  a  glorified  Evander,"  she 
answered.  "  He  speaks  like  Evander,  and  has 
the  same  intensely  serious  and  lofty  expres- 
sion. The  god  thinks  very  highly  of  Evander, 
for  he  told  me  so." 

Festus  made  a  face  which  Livia  slightly 
resented. 

"  The  Shining  One  has  saved  my  life,  at 
any  rate,"  she  said,  "  so  you  must  pardon  me 
if  I  am  grateful." 

"  I  am  grateful  too,"  he  replied ;  then 
with  a  few  final  strokes  of  his  axe,  he  flung 
down  the  great  stone  pine.  It  trembled  like  a 
sentient  thing  and  seemed  to  throw  up  it! 
aged  arms  to  the  heaven  above  ;  then  slowly, 
majestically,  it  left  the  place  that  it  had  occu- 

39 


EVANDER 

pied  for  a  hundred  years,  swung  away  and 
descended  in  thunder.  The  huge  earthward 
limbs  were  cracked  off  like  twigs,  as  it  crashed 
down  ;  the  solid  ground  shook  at  the  impact ; 
overhead  there  broke  a  naked  space  of  blue 
sky  and  a  thousand  little  things  that  had  lived 
in  eternal  twilight  beneath  the  pine  now  felt 
direct  sunshine  upon  their  leaves  and  fainted. 
Not  till  the  return  of  darkness  and  nightly 
dews  did  they  recover  their  senses. 

The  bacchants  plucked  the  cones  until  they 
had  sufficient,  then  they  went  their  way, 
practising  a  dithyrambic  chant.  Livia  offered 
to  hasten  home  and  fetch  Festus  more  food  ; 
but  he  held  his  day's  work  done  and  accom- 
panied her  down  the  mountain-side. 

For  a  time  neither  spoke ;  then  Festus 
voiced  the  matter  in  Livia's  mind  so  accu- 
rately, that  she  felt  something  like  a  blush 
upon  her  cheek  and  turned  her  face  from  him. 

She  had  been  wondering  in  the  depth  of 

her    young    soul    whether,    after    all,    Apollo 

might   not   be   a   better  god   to    follow  than 

Bacchus.      She    felt    that    he   was    eminently 

40 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

trustworthy,  prodigiously  powerful.  And  it 
was  clear  that  he  did  not  admire  Bacchus.  He 
was  older  than  the  god  of  the  grape  and 
doubtless  wiser.  She  did  not  think  of  herself 
alone  ;  she  considered  the  moral  requirements 
of  Festus,  and  idly  wondered  whether,  in  the 
time  to  come,  her  husband  might  rise  to 
greater  things  and  a  worthier  pattern  of  life 
if  he  sacrificed  at  the  altar  of  the  Light- 
Bringer  and  left  Bacchus  for  other  men. 

Here  he  interrupted  her. 

"  You  understand  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
trouble  your  head  any  more  about  Apollo," 
he  said.  "  We  have  agreed  to  worship  Bacchus 
and,  for  my  part,  I  find  him  a  good  friend  and 
a  staunch  deity,  who  demands  no  impossible 
sacrifices  and  is  content  if  I  am  happy.  Wine 
suits  me.  I  am  the  better  for  it.  I  have  a 
disposition  naturally  cheerful,  and  Bacchus 
openly  tells  us  that  as  long  as  we  do  our  duty, 
treat  our  fellow-man  honestly,  and  pay  our 
way,  the  less  we  think  about  the  gods,  the 
better.  The  great  thing,  if  you  are  a  mortal, 
is  to  mind  your  own  business,  and  let  the  gods 

41 


EVANDER 

mind  theirs.  Of  course,  if  we  are  their 
business,  then  they  will  mind  us.  I  don't 
know  anything  about  that.  But  the  gods 
certainly  help  those  who  help  themselves. 
That  is  what  the  Panisci  meant  when  they 
told  you  to  climb  the  rock  first  and  call  on 
Apollo  afterwards.  It  is  a  woodlander's 
business  to  fell  trees,  and  if  he  stands  in  the 
way  of  the  falling  trunk,  not  Faunus  or 
Silvanus  will  save  his  skull ;  nor  does  Neptune 
heed  the  cry  of  the  sailor  who  goes  to  sea  with 
rotten  sails  and  a  cracked  mast.  The  gods 
know  their  business,  and  they  also  know  ours. 
And  when  they  punish  us,  it  is  generally 
because  we  have  failed  of  ours.  Come  now 
and  feed  me,  for  I  am  starving.  Then  to- 
gether we  will  pray  to  Bacchus." 

She  did  not  answer  ;  but  you  cannot  speak 
with  a  god  and  pass  it  off  as  a  matter  of  no 
significance.  Livia,  though  her  feelings  were 
not  deep,  became  deeply  influenced  by  her 
adventure.  To  see  the  celestials  at  that  stage 
in  the  world's  history  was  no  astounding 
matter,  for  they  came  and  went  among  men 
42 


APOLLO  AND  THE  WOLVES 

and  women,  to  human  joy  or  sorrow,  and 
brought  life,  or  death,  as  the  case  might  be  ; 
but  Livia  had  actually  spoken  with  a  most 
exalted  divinity  and  the  magic  and  wonder  of 
him  were,  for  the  moment,  heavy  upon  her 
heart. 

She  yearned  to  worship  him,  but  she  con- 
cealed her  desire  from  Festus.  Circumstances 
unfortunately  conspired  to  accentuate  her 
longing  and  she  felt  an  overmastering  im- 
pulse to  follow  it. 

There  was,  of  course,  much  to  be  said  for 
this  apparent  conversion  ;  but  it  promised  to 
make  life  exceedingly  difficult,  not  only  for 
her — she  was  going  to  have  the  centre  of  the 
stage  to  comfort  her — but  also  for  her  husband, 
a  man  of  fixed  ideas  and  simple  but  most 
steadfast  religious  opinions. 


43 


IV 
THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

CARMENTA,  the  mother  of  Livia, 
called  at  the  forge  of  Fabius,  the 
smith,  who  was  accounted  a  wise  man, 
when  he  chose  to  be  wise.  He  and  Carmenta 
had  been  very  good  friends  in  the  past  ; 
indeed  Livia  was  their  daughter,  and  the 
mother  thought  that  Fabius  might  now 
reasonably  use  his  brains  on  the  young  woman's 
behalf. 

But  the  forge  lay  a  mile  from  the  village,  so 
that  the  sparks  that  were  wont  to  fly  above  it 
should  not  set  fire  to  the  reed  roofs.  Carmenta, 
therefore,  had  to  walk  a  mile  and  climb  a  little 
hill  also  before  she  reached  it. 

Stopping  to  rest  at  the  summit  of  this  knap, 
she  fell  in  with  an  oread,  one  of  those  nymphs 
who  dwell  in   the  woodland.     Carmenta   felt 

44 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

no  surprise,  for  the  oreads  would  often  con- 
sult men  and  women  about  their  own  simple 
affairs ;  they  were  immortal  maidens  with 
more  beauty  than  intellect. 

Now  the  oread  stopped  Carmenta  and 
begged  a  favour. 

"  I  have  a  lesson  and  pray  you  hear  it,"  she 
said. 

"  Do  you  do  lessons  ?  "  asked  the  old 
woman,  and  listened  while  the  other  ex- 
plained. 

"  To-morrow  I  am  to  recite  one  of  my 
poems  before  Bacchus.  For  I  am  a  poet  and 
the  nymphs  have  told  him  about  me,  so  he 
has  bidden  me  rehearse  before  him.  Naturally 
one  wishes  to  shine  on  such  an  occasion,  and  I 
have  invented  a  very  long  and  beautiful  poem  ; 
but  to  learn  it  by  heart  was  almost  too  much 
for  me.  I  have  wearied  my  friends  with  it 
and  now  I  begin  to  doubt  if  it  is  as  perfect  as 
I  thought.  For  if  an  artist  dwells  overlong 
with  her  own  creation,  a  time  comes  when  she 
grows  uneasy  and  discovers  only  an  increasing 
number  of  faults.    But  it  will  come  freshly  to 

45 


EVANDER 

your  ear,  and  you  may  do  me  a  great  kindness 
and  hearten  my  sinking  spirit,  if  you  can 
honestly  say  that  you  like  the  poem,  and  think 
it  worthy  to  be  heard  by  Bacchus." 

"  Drat  Bacchus  ! — it's  Bacchus  here,  there 
and  everywhere,"  said  Carmenta,  much  to  the 
oread's  surprise. 

"  Bacchus  is  a  mighty  and  glorious  god," 
she  answered  ;  "  and  if  by  good  chance  my 
verses  please  him,  he  will  reward  me  and 
perhaps  permit  me  to  join  his  train  and  take 
my  place  among  his  joyful  companions." 

"  There  are  too  many  gods,"  answered 
Carmenta  flatly.  "  How  on  earth  is  a  poor 
body  to  decide  among  them  which  shall  be 
worshipped  and  obeyed  ?" 

"  You  pay  your  devotion  and  you  take  your 
choice,"  replied  the  oread.  "  One  should  not 
decide  in  a  hurry,  but,  having  decided,  it  is 
well  to  be  faithful,  for  the  gods  little  like  a 
follower  to  desert  them,  and  the  goddesses 
never  forgive  it." 

"  Women  ought  to  worship  the  goddesses 
in  my  opinion,"  asserted  Carmenta.     "  After 

46 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

we  have  done  with  Venus,  who  does  not  desire 
to  see  old  people  at  her  altars,  then  let  us  pray 
to  Minerva  and  stick  to  her.  I  am  troubled 
about  my  daughter,  Livia.  However,  that 
won't  interest  you  and  you  couldn't  throw 
any  light  upon  it.  So  tell  your  poetry  and  I'll 
listen.  But  I  warn  you  that  I  don't  know 
anything  whatever  about  poetry." 

"  Few  do,  but  that  doesn't  prevent  every- 
body from  criticising  it,"  answered  the  oread. 
"  Once  you  were  young  and  you  loved,  so  you 
have  lived  poetry  whether  you  knew  anything 
about  it  or  not — indeed,  all  humans  do.  They 
live  better  poetry  than  they  can  write,  in  fact, 
and  if  the  least  of  you  were  able  or  willing  to 
set  down  his  life,  great  poetry  would  appear  ; 
but  you  are  too  self-conscious.  His  self- 
consciousness  comes  between  the  mortal  artist 
and  his  work,  so  that  he  can  never  attain  per- 
fection. Even  gods  are  self-conscious,  too,  for 
that  matter  ;  but  not  the  greatest.  They  say 
Jupiter  is  writing  a  poem  for  Juno ;  though  it 
is  much  more  likely  to  be  for  somebody  else." 

"  Get  on,"  directed  Carmenta.    "  The  dusk 

47 


EVANDER 

is  down  and  I  cannot  stay  here  all  night  listen- 
ing to  your  chatter." 

Thus  directed,  the  oread  put  her  hands 
behind  her,  frowned,  looked  up  at  the  trees 
and  began  the  poem  she  had  written  for 
Bacchus. 

"  It  is  called  '  Friend  of  the  Night,'  "  she 
said,  then  proceeded  in  this  manner. 

Another  Night  arrived  on  earth 

After  the  immemorial  way. 

She  followed  a  tempestuous  Day 
Strangled  and  stricken  from  his  birth. 

The  Queen  of  Darkness  held  her  breath 

To  hear  the  thunder  on  the  height. 

Her  diadem  was  forked  blue  light  : 
It  seemed  she  brought  not  sleep  but  death. 

"  Alas  !   alas  !   my  little  reign," 

She  cried.     "  My  loyal  subjects  dear 
Will  hide  away  for  dread  and  fear 

And  I  shall  woo  them  all  in  vain. 

The  grey  wolf  pack  will  never  roam  ; 

The  badger  folk  will  never  rise, 

With  lemon  streaks  and  ruby  eyes, 
From  out  the  holt  they  call  their  home. 

+8 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

Old  russet  fox  sulks  in  his  earth  ; 
The  coney  people  all  lie  low, 
For  fur  is  better  dry,  they  know. 

Even  at  cost  of  nightly  mirth. 

My  nightingale  has  gone  to  bed  ; 
My  goatsucker  brings  not  his  churn 
To  secret  places  in  the  fern  ; 

My  corncrake  might  as  well  be  dead. 

The  barn-owl's  lady  hates  a  storm  ; 
To  stay  at  home  she'll  think  it  best, 
Spreading  her  wings  upon  the  nest, 

Keeping  her  little  children  warm. 

And  humankind,  to  whom  the  light 
Or  dark's  all  one  for  work  or  play, 
Will  not  a  moment  now  delay 

As  through  the  thunderstorm  they  fight. 

No  scented  bloom  can  smile  for  me, 
Nor  sphinx-moth  dip  within  its  cup, 
For  every  petal's  close  shut  up 

Against  the  weather's  villainy. 

No  golden  moon  will  glad  my  eyes  ; 
No  star  upon  my  forehead  shine, 
Or  in  my  hair  a  diamond  twine  ; 

No  greenwood  sing  my  lullabie*. 

49 


EVANDER 

No  gentle  magic,  no  sweet  sleight 
Of  dreaming  dew,  or  gleaming  lake, 
A  single  kindly  thought  will  take 

For  such  a  fury  of  a  Night. 

A  troubled  memory  I  speed, 

Storm-foundered,  sorrowful,  unblest. 
Because  I  bring  the  world  no  rest, 

I  am  a  friendless  Night  indeed." 

Forlorn  she  came  unto  a  dell, 

And  wandering  there  with  rain-wet  face 

In  all  her  unbeholden  grace, 
A  sudden  happy  thing  befell. 

For  Glow-worm,  plodding  through  the  grass 
Within  that  dingle  sad  and  damp, 
Met  Night,  and  lit  a  golden  lamp 

Out  of  respect  to  see  her  pass. 

That  such  a  tiny  soul  should  see 

Her  loneliness,  should  know  her  name 
And  greet  the  Presence  with  a  flame, 

Made  Night  go  much  more  cheerfully. 

She  praised  the  humble  traveller, 

Who  shone  and  shone  with  all  her  might. 
A  smile  irradiated  Night, 

And  even  thus  she  spoke  to  her. 

50 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

"  Since  me,  my  little  one,  you've  kenned, 

I'll  set  your  spark  upon  my  breast, 

Choosing  you  for  my  dearest,  best, 
And,  to  be  frank,  my  only  friend. 

And  when  far  gentler  Nights  renew 
The  darkness  and  my  tale  is  told, 
Tell  them  I  blessed  your  lamp  of  old, 

And  that  I  thought  the  world  of  you." 

To  dawn  she  passed  ;   another  sun 
Leapt  o'er  the  earth  in  lurid  might, 
And  Glow-worm,  putting  our  her  light, 

Went  home  well  pleased  with  what  she'd  done. 

The  oread  proved  word-perfect,  but  did 
not  recite  her  poem  well.  It  was  rather  a  sing- 
song performance. 

"  A  little  incident  I  observed  myself  during 
the  last  great  thunderstorm,"  she  explained. 
"  How  does  it  strike  you,  Carmenta  ?  " 

"  It's  overlong,"  answered  the  washer- 
woman, "  and  you  drone  it  out  like  a  bee 
sucking  clover  ;  but  I  dare  say,  if  you  were  to 
hurry  up  and  drop  out  about  half  of  it,  they'll 
let  you  finish." 

"  Cold    comfort,"    said    the    oread    sadly. 

5i 


EVANDER 

"  Perhaps,  however,  it  might  really  be  better 
if  I  gave  Bacchus  something  short." 

"  Be  sure  it  would,"  answered  Carmenta. 
"  Of  course  time  is  nothing  to  you  immortal 
creatures — time  is  only  made  for  slaves,  like 
us — but  it's  better  not  to  run  the  risk  of 
boring  a  god.    Good  evening." 

The  oread,  however,  was  already  so  busy 
considering  her  other  poems,  that  she  did  not 
acknowledge  the  salute,  or  thank  the  human 
woman  who  had  thus  patiently  listened  to  her. 
In  fact,  she  was  a  true  minor  poet  to  the 
marrow  in  her  immortal  bones. 

Carmenta  proceeded  to  Fabius,  who  had 
put  out  his  fire  and  was  sitting  at  his  door 
eating  his  supper.  He  shared  with  her  the 
best  that  he  had,  and  they  munched  and  drank 
together  without  speech  for  a  time.  Then  she 
told  him  her  errand. 

"  Our  daughter  is  in  grief,"  she  said. 

"  So  soon  ?  "  asked  Fabius.  "  I  feared  that 
her  marriage  might  be  a  failure,  but  did  not 
think  to  hear  of  trouble  yet." 

"  It  is  not  marriage,  but  religion,"  ex- 
52 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

plained  Carmenta.  "  The  god  of  Festus  was 
to  have  been  the  god  of  Livia  also,  for  so  it 
seemed  best  and  Festus  willed  it.  Now,  alas ! 
our  daughter  finds  that  she  must  worship 
Apollo.  But  Festus  does  not  like  Apollo,  and 
Livia  dare  not  tell  him  what  has  happened  to 
her." 

"  A  plague  on  the  gods  ! — there  are  as 
many  as  flies  in  a  marsh,"  said  Fabius. 

"  But  one  must  have  a  god.  To  have  none 
is  to  be  friendless  ;  though  to  pay  court  at  all 
their  altars  is  to  fritter  away  your  prayers  and 
be  heard  of  nobody." 

"  Let  her  pray  to  Apollo  in  secret  then." 

"  Bacchus  would  know  it.  He  is  a  kindly 
god,  but  does  not  pardon  deceit." 

"  Put  it  to  Festus.  A  woman  must  be 
happy,  or  she  will  take  good  care  that  her  un- 
happiness  pours  over  into  her  home.  Festus 
is  not  hard  to  please — a  very  good,  amicable 
man  and  pays  me  well  for  his  axes.  Let  Livia 
tell  him  that  she  must  worship  Apollo,  or 
become  a  nuisance.  Then  he  will  make  no 
difficulty." 

53 


EVANDER 

"  So  I  thought,"  answered  Carmenta.  "  But 
it  is  not  so.  If  Livia  worship  Apollo,  there 
will  be  much  difficulty — not  of  her  making 
but  her  husband's.  He  adores  Bacchus  and 
already  suspects  his  wife.  Festus  is  religious, 
and  his  faith  will  turn  him  from  Livia 
and  kill  his  love  for  her,  if  she  does  not 
share  it." 

"  He  loves  her  much,  however,"  declared 
the  smith.  "  He  was  here  but  three  days  ago 
and  told  me  that  he  had  not  known  what  it 
was  to  live  until  he  wedded  our  daughter. 
By  the  same  token  he  blessed  Bacchus  very 
heartily  for  sending  him  such  a  bride.  He  also 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  marriage  was  a 
blessing  and  that  he  felt  thankful  he  had  not 
lived  too  soon  to  enjoy  the  state." 

"  Can  we  do  anything  ?  " 

Fabius  considered. 

"  We  can  be  hopeful,"  he  replied.  "  The 
Lares  are  stronger  than  the  Larvae,  even  as 
good  conquers  evil.  But  this  is  one  goodness 
against  another  goodness.  What  has  turned 
Livia    so   obstinately   religious  ?     You   and   I 

54 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

were — well,  these  things  did  not  make  life  a 
burden  ;  nor  was  it  so  with  her  before  she 
wedded." 

"  She  has  seen  and  spoken  with  Apollo." 
"  Then  let  her  see  and  speak  with  Bacchus. 
He  may  persuade  her,  if  he  thinks  it  worth 
while  ;  or,  better  still,  let  Festus  seek  his  god. 
Bacchus  demands  no  worship  that  is  half- 
hearted. Yet  I  am  puzzled,  for  Livia  was  not 
of  the  frosty  spirits.  Otherwise  she  had  not 
loved  Festus,  who  has  always  enjoyed  the  good 
things  of  earth  when  he  could  get  them. 
Livia  loved  laughter  and  gaiety.  She  danced 
and  sang  and  had  no  unkind  word  for  any- 
body. Now,  having  won  the  man  she  loves,  it 
ill  becomes  her  to  change  her  mood  and  seek  a 
god  whose  service  lies  heavy  on  simple  folk  of 
the  field.  Apollo  wins  the  wise  people  and 
those  who  love  the  fruit  of  the  brain — those 
who,  being  able  to  choose,  prefer  the  way  of 
austerity  and  self-denial.  These  things  count 
to  them  for  righteousness,  because  they  could 
enjoy  purple  and  fine  linen  and  the  fat  of  the 
land  if  they  desired  to  do  so  ;   but  for  us,  who 

55 


EVANDER 

live  harshly,  who  deny  ourselves  from  necessity 
and  are  not  heroes  and  heroines  for  so  doing — 
for  us,  Carmenta,  Apollo  is  an  affectation. 
Let  Bacchus  and  Faunus,  Pomona  and  Juturna 
be  our  friends.  They  at  least  bring  gifts  that 
the  poor  can  understand." 

"  We  might  split  the  difference  and  get 
Livia  to  pray  to  Volcanus — your  god — as  you 
and  I  were  wont,"  suggested  Carmenta.  "  It 
is,  I  think,  only  against  Apollo  that  Festus 
entertains  such  antipathy." 

"  Leave  it  alone  and  see  what  they  make  of 
it,"  advised  the  smith.  "  In  marriage  I  under- 
stand the  woman  is  servant  to  her  lord.  I 
know  not  how  that  may  result,  but  we  shall 
see." 

Carmenta  left  Fabius  and  returned  home- 
ward. She  was  troubled  and  preoccupied 
with  her  daughter's  affairs,  when  the  poetical 
oread  accosted  her  again. 

"  You  thought  my  last  effusion  too  lengthy," 
she  said  ;  "  then  you  can  sit  upon  that  stone 
for  a  while,  and  I  will  recite  an  earlier  work 
that  has  been  much  admired  by  my  friends." 

56 


THE  SELFISH  OREAD 

But  to  the  oread's  astonishment,  she  re- 
ceived a  chilly  answer. 

"  Not  again,"  replied  Carmenta.  "  You 
want  everything  for  nothing,  like  a  good  many 
other  people.  I  am  kind  to  the  kindly  ;  but 
where  kindness  is  not  recognised  or  acknow- 
ledged, I  can  be  flint.  Where  kindness  is 
taken  for  granted,  it  becomes  weakness  to 
offer  it.  In  future,  when  people  devote  their 
precious  time  to  your  pleasure,  at  least  re- 
member to  thank  them  ;  and  when  people 
bid  you  a  friendly  farewell,  do  no  less  than 
echo  it.  Be  gracious  to  the  gracious  ;  and 
because  you  happen  to  make  verses,  think  not 
that  the  need  for  courtesy  is  ended." 

Carmenta  went  on  her  way  and  the  oread 
felt  much  too  surprised  to  reply. 

"  If  one  rehearses  poems  before  a  washer- 
woman, one  has  only  oneself  to  thank  for 
insolence,"  she  reflected.  "  But  it  was  ever  so. 
When  the  artist  bends,  common  persons  are 
prone  to  take  advantage.  It  is  their  brutal 
opinion,  apparently,  that  the  poet  who  invites 
their  views,  puts  himself  in  an  inferior  posi- 

57 


EVANDER 

tion.  By  virtue  of  criticism,  the  critic  con- 
ceives of  himself  as  sitting  in  the  judgment- 
seat,  while  the  creator,  forsooth,  stands  at  the 
bar.  In  future  I  will  only  ask  my  peers  for 
criticism  ;  though  unfortunately  one's  peers 
have  seldom  a  kind  or  generous  word  to  say  of 
one.  It  is  their  wont  to  look  coldly  upon  your 
achievements  and  return,  with  a  secret  sigh 
of  relief,  to  the  things  that  they  have  made 
themselves." 


SS 


FAUNUS 

NOW  did  Livia,  while  rejoicing  in  the 
love  of  Festus,  none  the  less  terribly 
wound  him.  She  was  a  happy  woman, 
but  like  so  many  happy  women,  could  not 
leave  well  alone,  even  when  she  found  the 
peril  of  trying  to  make  well  better.  She  met 
Evander  and  told  him  that  an  impulse  drove 
her  to  Apollo.  Naturally  he — a  devout 
bachelor — encouraged  her  greatly  and  said 
that,  not  for  twenty  husbands,  must  she  set 
aside  the  glorious  inspiration  that  had  come 
upon  her.  But  he  did  not  analyse  the  inspira- 
tion ;  he  praised  her  heartily  and  his  applause 
exalted  Livia  in  her  own  opinion.  Not  content 
with  loving  Festus,  she  must  now  needs  fall  in 
love  with  herself  ;  and,  as  though  the  dignity 
of  wifehood  were  not  enough,  she  aspired  to 

59 


EVANDER 

the  smile  of  fame.  It  was  a  foolish  ambition 
in  a  happy  girl,  who  did  not  yet  know  her  good 
fortune,  and  it  sprang  from  a  defect  of  char- 
acter, for  which  Livia  was  presently  called 
to  pay  the  price.  It  is  probable  that  had 
not  her  impulse  to  do  something  out  of  the 
common  sprung  from  Apollo,  it  must  have 
blossomed,  late  or  soon,  from  another  source. 
At  any  rate  a  certain  restless  factor  in  the  wife 
of  Festus  now  cried  out  for  change  before  she 
had  grasped  the  blessing  of  stability,  and  the 
words  of  Evander  affirmed  her  in  error  and  led 
to  tribulation. 

Another  than  Festus  might  have  made  light 
of  it  ;  even  he  under  different  circumstances 
would  have  had  little  to  say.  But  he  mis- 
trusted Apollo,  who  had  slain  more  than  one 
of  his  friends  for  their  indiscretions,  and 
when  Livia  presently  informed  him  of  her 
intention  henceforth  to  worship  the  God  of 
the  Sun,  Festus  made  it  a  personal  matter  and 
forbade  her. 

She  persisted  and  declared  her  faith  no 
matter  for  a  husband's  interference.  He 
60 


FAUN  US 

found  her  placing  flowers  upon  the  altar  of 
Apollo  and  beat  her  and  drove  her  home. 

"  Fire-drakes  and  furies  !  "  he  cried.  "  Shall 
the  woman  I  have  wedded  insult  me  to  my 
face,  and  pray  to  one  who  has  slain  my  friends 
with  his  accursed  arrows  ?  " 

She  wept  and  tasted  the  fruit  of  martyr- 
dom. 

"  I  am  your  wife  and  we  have  been  happy," 
she  answered  ;  "  but  your  cruel  blows  banish 
happiness  from  my  heart  for  ever.  I  know 
now  that  there  are  greater  things  than  happi- 
ness. It  was  a  hard  saying  on  the  lips  of 
Evander  ;  but  he  spoke  the  truth.  Beat  me 
if  you  will,  Festus — you  cannot  beat  patience 
and  fortitude  and  faith  from  my  heart." 

Thus  he  turned  his  wife  into  a  tragedy 
queen,  and  from  being  a  jolly  and  laughing 
lass,  who  loved  his  embraces  and  would  rather 
have  sat  upon  his  lap  than  the  throne  of  the 
Empress,  he  saw  the  new  Livia — unsmiling, 
sublimely  patient,  and  with  already  a  hint  of 
that  self-righteousness  which  is  often  born  in 
those  who  follow  the  Apollonian  way. 
61 


EVANDER 

He  wept  to  her  and  prayed  for  forgiveness. 
She  dried  his  tears  and  forgave  him  instantly. 
She  spent  all  her  time  forgiving  him  and  in 
secret  felt  much  gratification  at  the  heights 
on  which  she  began  to  move.  She  displayed 
the  zeal  and  fervour  of  the  proselyte,  while 
Festus  tried,  as  far  as  a  rough  woodman 
might,  to  keep  his  temper  with  her.  Some- 
times he  succeeded,  sometimes  he  failed  ;  and 
he  knew  that  each  failure  was  another  ray  in 
Livia's  new  crown  of  glory.  He  strove  with 
her  and  did  what  his  warm  heart  prompted  to 
win  her  back  to  him.  But  it  was  in  vain  and 
his  patience  gave  out  at  last.  As  he  truly  re- 
marked, he  had  married  the  old  Livia,  not  the 
new  one. 

He  beat  her  sometimes  in  public,  and  since 
it  was  a  new  thing  for  a  man  to  strike  a  woman 
before  the  people,  a  stranger  travelling  beside 
the  lake,  who  saw  this  sad  spectacle,  asked 
what  it  meant.  "  They  are  married," 
answered  the  folk.  It  became  a  familiar  say- 
ing, so  that  when  a  man  evilly  entreated  a 
woman,  it  was  assumed  that  they  were  one. 
62 


FAUNUS 

Finally  Festus  determined  to  seek  Bacchus 
and  beg  him  to  throw  light  upon  the  situation. 
Indeed,  he  started  to  do  so,  for  Bacchus  might 
often  be  found  with  his  train  about  the  vine- 
lands  at  this  season,  and  when  he  was  in  the 
neighbourhood,  the  genial  riot  of  his  retinue 
could  be  heard  for  miles  on  a  still  night, 
while  their  torches  made  a  blaze  in  the  forest 
darkness. 

But  it  happened  that  the  woodman's  pur- 
pose was  changed,  for  he  fell  in  with  Hope,  a 
youthful  goddess  whom  to  meet  was  always 
accounted  good  fortune.  Spes  wore  a  light 
robe  of  crocus  colour,  through  which  her 
pearly  skin  glimmered  very  beautifully.  Upon 
her  head  was  a  wreath  of  purple  gentians  and 
golden  arnica  that  she  had  gathered  in  the 
hills ;  while  in  her  hand  she  carried  a  bud  of 
orange  lily.  For  it  was  her  custom  to  bear  a 
bud  only,  never  an  open  flower.  Therefore 
an  unopened  blossom  is  the  symbol  of  young 
Hope,  since  her  sovereignty  lies  over  the 
future.  The  past  is  past  and  the  present 
fulfils  itself  and  is  the   past   before  we  can 

63 


EVANDER 

name  it  ;  but  none  may  tell  what  lies  in  the 
shut  bud  of  future  time,  and  none  knows 
whether  it  will  open  pure  and  perfect,  or 
whether  already  the  invisible  worm  lies  within. 

Spes  knew  all  about  Festus  and  Livia ; 
indeed  she  was  here  to  intercept  the  wood- 
man on  his  way. 

"  Be  advised,"  she  said  ;  "  remember  that 
while  there  is  life,  there  is  Hope.  Go  back 
and  strive  yet  again  to  prevail  with  Livia  by 
kind  words  and  good  sense.  She  loves  you, 
and  it  were  a  grievous  thing  that  your  lives 
should  be  spoiled  by  these  differences.  It 
is  always  dangerous  to  call  in  the  high  gods, 
and  though  Bacchus  is  gentle  as  well  as 
terrible,  he  would,  I  think,  be  the  first  to 
advise  you  to  exercise  patience  and  give  Hope 
a  trial." 

"  It  is  just  because  I  hadn't  any  hope  left 
that  I  was  going  to  him,"  answered  Festus ; 
"  but  now  I  breathe  the  air  of  Hope  very 
willingly  and  will  do  as  you  tell  me.  I  have 
no  desire  to  push  myself  into  the  notice  of 
my  god  if  it  can  be  helped,  and  gladly  take 

64 


FAUNUS 

your  advice.  You  are  the  goddess  of  To- 
morrow, and  I  will  trust  to-morrow  for  a  little 
while,  even  though  to-day  be  a  failure.  I 
love  Livia  with  all  my  heart,  and  where  there 
is  Love,  no  doubt  there  should  be  Hope 
also." 

"  To  love  without  Hope  is  the  saddest  trial 
that  faces  mortal  man,"  answered  Spes.  Then 
she  left  him,  that  she  might  take  her  message 
elsewhere,  and  Festus,  cheered  at  this  meet- 
ing, held  it  of  good  augury  and  returned  to 
his  home  in  an  amiable  and  sanguine  spirit. 

Meantime  Livia  had  taken  a  walk  beside  the 
Larian  lake,  for  the  evening  hour  invited  to  the 
air,  and  so  still  was  it  that  the  twilight  star 
mirrored  herself  in  the  water,  while  the  splash 
of  oars  could  be  heard  a  mile  distant,  as  the 
fishermen  returned  to  shore. 

Livia  had  made  supper  ready  for  her 
husband  and  then,  walking  beside  Larius, 
she  met  Evander,  who  was  standing  in  an 
attitude  of  contemplation  at  the  brink  of 
the  lake. 

They  conversed  together  and  he  made  the 

F  65 


EVANDER 

evening  hour  still  more  beautiful  by  the 
elevation  and  dignity  of  his  sentiments.  Livia's 
heart  beat  with  pride  that  he  should  thus 
devote  his  exalted  mind  to  her,  and  she  strove 
to  rise  to  the  occasion  and  prove  worthy  of 
such  a  privilege.  It  proved  a  strain,  but  a 
strain  that  women  can  generally  bear,  for  they 
have  an  art  to  appear  wiser  than  they  are,  and 
use  silence  so  cunningly  that  oftentimes,  what 
is  in  truth  their  blankness,  will  be  mistaken  by 
the  incautious  for  pregnant  understanding. 
They  know  that  the  silence  of  other  people 
is  golden  in  the  ear  of  the  egotist  ;  for 
such  men  only  ask  for  silence  and  love 
a  good  listener  better  than  any  created 
thing. 

When  she  did  speak,  Livia  answered 
what  she  knew  he  would  like  to  hear — 
from  intuition  rather  than  conviction.  And 
even  while  she  said  "  Ah,  yes,"  and  "  Verily  it 
is  so,"  and  "  You  read  my  unspoken  thought," 
she  suspected  at  the  bottom  of  her  young 
heart  that  she  was  not  entirely  honest  in  this 
attitude. 

66 


FAUNUS 

Thus  she  deceived  Evander  utterly  ;  her- 
self, only  in  part. 

"  You  are  a  martyr,"  he  declared,  "  and 
I  reverence  you.  I  feel,  indeed,  that  we 
have  much  in  common,  and  it  is  no  small 
delight  to  me,  who  have  worshipped  Apollo 
from  my  childhood,  to  speak  comfortable 
words  in  your  ear  and  so  help  to  sustain  your 
new  and  precious  faith.  Be  sure  that  what 
you  endure  is  not  hidden  from  Phcebus.  The 
more  you  suffer,  the  deeper  his  solicitude. 
It  may  even  happen  to  you,  as  to  certain 
historic  maidens,  that  you  will  rise  to 
immortality  by  virtue  of  your  persecution. 
In  fact,  if  you  are  miserable  long  enough  and 
Festus  prove  sufficient  of  a  brute,  your  tor- 
ments should  ultimately  win  for  you  divine 
honours  and  recognition.  It  is  not  beyond  the 
reach  of  hope,  dear  Livia,  that  you  may  some 
day  be  turned  into  a  flower,  or  star,  and  your 
name  thus  associated  with  an  immortal  object, 
to  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  mankind." 

"  Festus  will  never  be  as  horrible  as  all 
that,"  she  answered  with  conviction.    "  I  feel, 

67 


EVANDER 

having  you  to  succour  me,  noble  Evander,  and 
heal  my  bruised  spirit  with  the  ointment  of 
your  words,  that  I  can  endure  all  things  while 
life  remains  to  me  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
though  a  passionate  creature,  my  husband  is 
not  of  the  stuff  to  make  a  tyrant." 

"  He  is  a  stubborn  and  obstinate  man  with- 
out high  principles,"  replied  the  other.  "  He 
may  rise  to  tyranny  if  Bacchus  inspire  him. 
Be  firm  and  bate  no  jot  of  your  convictions. 
Remember  that  my  eyes  are  on  you  and  that 
Apollo  knows.  Had  it  pleased  the  gods  to  waken 
love  in  our  hearts,  how  different  must  have 
been  your  future — aye,  and  mine  also  !  For  I 
perceive  in  your  steadfast  courage  and  clear- 
eyed  outlook  upon  reality,  a  reflection  of  my 
own  best  qualities." 

"  I  thank  you,  wisest  of  men,"  she  replied. 
"  I  would  rather  hear  you  say  that  than 
change  places  with  the  Star  of  Evening.  Your 
words  will  echo  in  my  heart  at  its  saddest 
moments  ;  they  will  make  my  footsteps  firm, 
when  they  totter  under  the  weight  of  afflic- 
tion ;  they  will  be  a  beacon  when  I  am  storm- 
68 


FAUNUS 

foundered,  and  a  tower  of  strength  wherein  to 
hide  when  most  I  seek  salvation." 

Her  voice  was  melodious  and  she  really  spoke 
with  a  thrill  of  conviction.  She  almost  be- 
lieved herself,  and,  of  course,  Evander  did  not 
for  an  instant  doubt.  Her  reply,  indeed, 
pleased  him  heartily.  He  was  not  an  emotional 
person,  but  in  his  response  came  as  near 
emotion  as  ever  he  had  in  his  life. 

"  What  might  have  been  !  "  he  said.  Then, 
feeling  the  dramatic  climax  reached,  cast 
about  for  an  effective  phrase  at  parting.  But 
Livia  had  even  a  finer  sense  of  drama  than  he, 
for  women  possess  a  perfect  instinct  in  this 
matter  denied  to  men.  She  felt  that  the  last 
word  should  be  with  her,  and  rising  still 
higher,  an  inspiration  of  dramatic  fitness 
whispered  that  no  spoken  word  could  better 
the  situation  now  attained.  Indeed,  more 
words  would  mar  it.  She  knelt,  therefore, 
kissed  his  hand  and  then  hastened  away,  as 
swiftly  as  was  compatible  with  effect. 

Her  departure  was  very  beautiful  and  very 
convincing   to  all  concerned,   save  one  small 

69 


EVANDER 

corner  of  Livia's  own  heart  wherein  dwelt  her 
real  self.  This,  of  late,  she  had  sought  to 
conceal ;  but  while  it  was  effectively  hidden 
from  everybody  else — to  their  great  mystifica- 
tion and  amazement — it  still  peeped  forth  to 
Livia  furtively.  She  grew  colder  and  colder 
towards  it,  however,  for  she  preferred  to  think 
that  her  true  self  had  slept  until  the  appeal  of 
Phoebus. 

Now  elated  and  slightly  hysterical,  she 
wandered  through  the  night  and  murmured 
"  Evander  !  Evander  !  "  Then  she  corrected 
herself  and  said  "  Apollo  !  Apollo  !  "  But  this 
did  not  sound  so  convincing,  even  when  she 
told  herself  that  it  amounted  to  the  same 
thing.  She  grew  more  calm  presently  and 
began  to  reflect. 

Then,  in  a  benignant  light,  that  seemed  to 
burn  from  within  him,  there  came  Pan  the 
Pasturer,  that  blessed,  primeval  wood  god,  that 
figure  for  love  and  adoration,  a  deity  apart, 
whose  altar  in  man's  spirit  no  other  god  can 
share.  For  worship  what  divinity  you  please, 
still  must  you  revere  Pan,  the  son  of  Hermes, 

7° 


FAUNUS 

the  loved  of  herdsmen  and  hunters,  the  first 
and  mightiest  of  the  gods  of  nature.  And 
because  he  is  of  nature,  nature  hides  nothing 
from  him,  and  her  deepest  secrets,  including 
the  heart  of  woman,  he  reads  as  an  open  book. 

Livia  knew  him  for  Faunus,  since  that  was 
the  name  he  bore  in  Italy.  She  bent  the  knee 
to  him  and  he  stopped. 

"  Tell  me,"  said  he,  "  is  there  a  flame 
among  yonder  pine  trees  on  the  mountain, 
and  do  my  ears  hear  the  beat  of  a  distant 
tympanon  ?  Bacchus  makes  revel  to-night 
and  I  go  to  keep  him  company." 

Livia  looked  up,  where  the  shoulder  of  the 
hill  loomed  upon  dying  day.  Already  the 
woods  were  an  amorphous  mass  of  darkness,  but 
in  their  midst,  like  a  red  eye,  blinked  fire. 
There  came  also  the  dull  reverberation  of  a 
drum  and  the  throb  of  cymbals  far  off. 

"  They  are  there,  Mighty  One,"  she  said, 
and  he,  looking  upon  her  with  kindly  eyes, 
knew  her  better  than  she  knew  herself. 

"  And  so  young  Livia,  daughter  of  Car- 
menta  and  wife  of  Festus,  doth  ruminate  upon 

7i 


EVANDER 

Fame  ?  "  he  asked,  and  she  started  to  find  her 
thoughts  read  so  easily. 

"  There  is  no  harm  in  that,  my  child,  but 
beware  of  attempting  the  eagle's  flight  on  a 
linnet's  wings.  Fame  comes  not  by  seeking, 
nor  glory  by  taking  thought.  Renown  steals 
to  the  side  of  him  who  knows  it  not.  Nor  is 
man  a  judge  of  Fame,  to  recognise  her  even 
when  he  sees  her.  At  best  she  is  little  more 
than  the  thunder-clap  that  follows  the  light- 
ning ;  and  do  not  forget  that  the  dead  rather 
than  the  living  concern  her.  He  who  inherits 
her  authentic  laurel  knows  no  more  about 
Fame  than  Death.  He  cares  as  little  for 
either  as  the  bronze,  or  marble  that  we  lift  to 
him  cares  for  whom  it  stands.  Not  in  the 
heart  of  the  dead  but  the  heart  of  the  living 
does  Fame  exist.  Yet  it  also  happens  that  the 
mightiest,  who,  so  their  work  for  humanity 
be  well  and  truly  done,  care  not  what  man 
wins  the  fame,  are  in  truth  the  only  im- 
mortals, though  forgotten  of  their  kind.  The 
gods  themselves  do  reverence  to  such  spirits. 

"  Consider,  therefore,  Livia,  what  phantom 
72 


FAUNUS 

you  pursue  and  the  ambition  that  lurks  in  your 
heart.  You  desire  to  be  linked  with  star  or 
stream,  forest  tree  or  woodland  flower,  for 
ever  ;  so  that  mankind,  when  they  mark  the 
star,  or  pluck  the  blossom,  shall  say,  '  This  is 
Livia,  the  washerwoman's  daughter,  who,  for 
her  sufferings  on  earth,  was  translated  by  the 
high  gods  and  shines  upon  the  sky,  or  smiles 
in  the  cyclamen,  or  strawberry.'  But  re- 
member that  you  yourself  are  gone  before 
these  things  happen.  All  that  you  will  know 
is  the  suffering  and  sorrow,  and  there  must 
come  a  time  when  you  will  endure  the  addi- 
tional grief  of  perceiving  that  the  sorrow  was 
home-made.  Thus  you  will  vanish  with  the 
bitterest  doubt  whether  your  life  of  grief  was 
not  in  vain  ;  with  the  gravest  fear  that,  after 
all,  you  may  adorn  no  legend  and  win  no 
posthumous  honour  of  the  gods.  For  Jupiter 
knows  exceedingly  well  the  difference  between 
reality  and  make  believe. 

"  You  are  making  believe,  my  dear  girl,  and 
that  road  reaches  no  flower  of  earth,  or  star  of 
heaven.     Therefore  consider  whether  a  happy 
73 


EVANDER 

home  and  a  good  husband  are  not  better  worth 
your  pains  than  the  futile  renown  of  which  you 
dream.  Happiness  is  at  your  gates,  and  it  is 
not  a  heroine  but  a  fool  who  shuts  the  door  on 
lawful  happiness.  I  can  speak  impartially,  for 
my  altar  robs  no  other  of  sacrifice  or  incense  ; 
therefore  I  say  that  your  husband's  god  is 
good,  kindly  and  powerful.  You  will  do 
well  to  worship  him  and,  indeed,  the  maiden 
whom  Festus  loved  and  courted,  if  she  re- 
mained true  to  herself,  would  be  content 
to  adore  the  god  of  her  husband.  Time  will 
prove  this  to  you,  and  my  hope  is  that  the 
proof  may  not  be  withheld  until  it  is  too  late. 
Let  me  see  a  bunch  of  black  and  gold  ophrys 
on  my  altar  to-morrow,  so  that  I  may  know 
you  have  not  forgotten  what  I  tell  you." 

Then  he  went  his  way,  after  Livia  had 
thanked  him  for  his  wisdom  ;  though  in  truth 
she  twisted  it  somewhat  to  suit  her  own 
dreams. 

For  now  she  began  herself  to  see  that  the 
immortality  of  star,  or  wayside  weed,  was  but 
a  doubtful  delight  to  a  living  woman.     She 

74 


FAUNUS 

remembered  that  the  joy  of  life,  as  expounded 
by  Festus  before  they  were  married,  had 
appealed  to  her  exceedingly,  and  she  came  to 
suspect  that  present  happiness  might  be  better 
worth  than  future  fame.  She  wondered,  as 
we  all  so  often  wonder,  whether  there  was 
any  way  to  eat  her  cake  and  have  it  also  ; 
whether  she  might  not  get  the  best  out  of 
both  worlds. 

She  forgot  Faunus  and  set  her  mind  upon 
Evander.  For  she  believed  that  the  way 
to  Apollo  led  through  him  and  that,  with 
him,  might  dawn  a  brighter,  temporal 
happiness  than  any  that  Festus  could  promise. 
Life  would  surely  blossom  with  flowers  and 
run  over  emerald  grasses  if  walked  beside 
Evander. 

"  What  might  have  been  !  "  he  had  said, 
and  Livia  returned  home  much  heartened 
by  the  reflection  that  what  might  have  been, 
might  still  be.  Better,  surely,  to  join  the  dis- 
ciple of  Apollo  than  link  a  dead  name  to  a 
star  after  a  lifetime  of  suffering  with  Festus. 
There  were,  of  course,  difficulties ;    but  she 

75 


EVANDER 

had   set    up    for   heroine,    and   where    is    the 
heroine  who  cannot  conquer  difficulties  ? 

Thus  Faunus  certainly  influenced  her  ;  but 
not  in  the  direction  he  designed.  It  happens 
so  with  much  advice,  for  we  are  lightning  quick 
to  pick  from  the  mass  of  other  people's  wisdom 
what  appears  to  chime  with  our  own.  And 
we  are  extraordinarily  dishonest  in  this  matter 
and  wrest  advice  from  its  context,  or  twist 
counsel  far  from  the  original  bent. 


76 


VI 

A  SAD   CHAPTER 

THIS  is  a  chapter  so  unhappy  that  it 
shall  be  as  short  as  possible,  for  who 
loves  to  dwell  on  the  sorrows  of 
other  people  if  he  cannot  lessen  them  ?  Art, 
a  wise  man  said,  is  with  us  that  we  shall  not 
perish  of  too  much  truth  ;  then  let  Art  be 
with  us,  to  wipe  the  tears  that  truth  so  often 
brings,  and  so  help  us  and  save  us  from  alto- 
gether weeping  away  our  vitality  and  slight 
value  to  the  world. 

Frankly,  Livia's  life  at  this  crisis  was  art, 
for  we  are  all  artists  once,  and  our  principal 
work,  which  is  our  own  existence,  though  it 
may  look  fine  enough  to  ourselves  and  our 
admirers,  seldom  satisfies  any  independent 
critic,  or  is  lived  in  terms  of  sufficient  distinc- 
tion to  make  a  masterpiece.     Here  and  there 

77 


EVANDER 

we  know  that  a  king,  or  tinker,  has  achieved 
mastery  and  left  something  completely  beauti- 
ful ;  but  the  sovereignty  comes  from  within  ; 
it  is  born  of  the  mingled  strands  a  man's  fore- 
fathers have  spun,  so  that  if  we  understood 
the  mystery  of  procreation,  we  might  predict 
that  given  such  and  such  sires  and  grandsires, 
greatness  should  result. 

Herein  the  gods  fail  to  the  superficial  eye, 
and  thoughtless  men  doubt  whether  they  are 
doing  their  best  for  our  race  while  the  genera- 
tions continue  to  be  so  mediocre.  These  mis- 
taken philosophers  argue  that  the  potential 
materials  of  superman  and  super-woman  lie 
all  around  us,  but  that  love,  or  ambition,  con- 
venience, or  policy,  are  allowed  to  mix  the 
ingredients  and  so  practically  negative  all 
chance  of  greatness.  In  truth,  of  course,  this 
is  a  blessing  ;  for  if  all  were  wise  there  would 
be  no  wisdom  ;  if  all  were  great,  no  greatness. 
Therefore  be  sure  the  gods  still  know  their 
business  in  this  matter  and  give  us  quite  as 
many  heroes  and  heroines  as  are  good  for  us. 

But  the  quality  of  heroism  is  not  one  which 

78 


A  SAD  CHAPTER 

we  can  determine  in  our  own  case  ;  and,  as  a 
rule,  the  man  who  feels  a  sense  of  majestic 
suffering,  majestically  borne,  is  making  an  ass 
of  himself. 

Livia  now  suffered  a  great  deal,  for  the 
advice  of  Spes  to  Festus  produced  no  lasting 
results.  He  was,  indeed,  as  patient  as  his 
nature  permitted  ;  but  he  could  not  bear  up 
against  his  wife's  obvious  enjoyment  of  martyr- 
dom :  it  proved  a  trial  too  great  for  this 
simple  and  amiable  man  to  endure. 

Things  therefore  went  from  bad  to  worse 
and,  in  the  vernacular,  it  was  common  talk 
that  the  young  couple  lived  a  cat-and-dog  life. 

And  Evander,  conscious  of  it,  began  to  per- 
pend. He  was  an  excellent  and  high-minded 
person  and  knew  many  useful  things  ;  but  the 
workings  of  a  woman's  heart  pertained  to  a 
branch  of  learning  beyond  him.  This  was 
natural  in  one  of  his  predilections,  for  Apollo 
himself  cannot  read  hearts  as  old  Faunus, 
and  though  Faunus  too  frightens  mankind 
sometimes,  his  panic  terror  springs  from  far 
other  sources  than  that  bewilderment  so  often 

79 


EVANDER 

inspired  by  the  God  of  Day.  Indeed,  it  mav 
be  argued  that  so-called  panic  terror  is  only 
another  name  for  conscience. 

But  it  was  small  wonder  that  Evander  did 
not  understand  Livia,  for  Livia  did  not  under- 
stand herself.  She  could  not  analyse  her  emo- 
tions and  assign  them  to  their  true  source  and 
inspiration.  Evander  believed  that  nothing 
but  the  most  exalted  religious  conviction  now 
led  Livia  to  suffer,  and  Livia  may  have  been  of 
the  same  opinion  while  she  did  not  think 
about  it.  But  they  were,  of  course,  both 
royally  wrong.  Clouds  sometimes  accompanied 
the  woman's  glory  of  mind,  yet  they  were  so 
tinged  with  the  glory,  that  she  perceived  them 
not.  She  was  true  to  herself,  and  since  herself 
was  at  present  false,  her  truth  itself  was 
falsity.  Even  her  real  love  for  Festus  faded  a 
little  before  his  roughness,  though  she  knew 
that  it  was  his  love  that  made  him  rough.  She 
could  not  deny  that  he  was  quite  as  attached 
to  Bacchus  as  she  herself  to  Apollo,  and 
as  for  his  hard  words  and  hard  blows,  since 
they  made  her  so  attractive  and  sympathetic 
80 


A  SAD  CHAPTER 

an  object,  she  had  no  real  quarrel  with  them. 
Her  martyrdom  produced  a  vigorous  crop  of 
the  weed  we  call  spiritual  pride.  Much 
spurious  excitement  entered  into  the  situation, 
and  it  became  intensified  when  Evander, 
dazzled  by  her  display  and  quite  furious  at  her 
domestic  sufferings,  which  lost  little  on  her 
lips,  began  to  formulate  a  mighty  conclusion 
concerning  her. 

His  motives  may  also  have  been  a  little 
mixed.  She  was  a  challenge  to  his  heroism  ; 
through  her  he  might  advance  upon  his  own 
steep  path  to  those  heights  beyond  the  reach 
of  common  men.  He  considered  whether  he 
should  not  now  notably  rescue  Livia  from  her 
woodman  and  be  to  her  a  helpmate  worthy  of 
her  unusual  character  and  attainments.  He 
determined  to  put  the  question  before 
Apollo,  and  even  told  Livia  that  he  was 
going  to  do  so. 

Her  heart  sank,  but  she  applauded  his  resolu- 
tion and  assured  him  of  obedience  to  the  divine 
mandate,  whatever  it  might  be. 

Thus    they    unconsciously    deceived    them- 
c  81 


EVANDER 

selves  and  one  another.  They  believed  that 
they  loved  with  a  pure,  religious  flame  and  felt 
confident  that  they  must  offer  to  the  people  an 
illuminating  spectacle  of  elevated  marriage  in 
its  highest  exposition ;  while  stark  truth 
pointed  to  the  contrary  and  asserted  that  the 
true  Evander  was  not  endowed  by  nature 
to  make  a  satisfactory  husband  for  any  woman, 
and  that  the  real  Livia  least  of  all  could  hope 
for  happiness  in  his  arms.  Lack  of  humour 
combined  with  a  steadfast  instinct  for  the 
limelight  disqualify  a  man  from  shining  on  the 
hearth  of  home  ;  yet,  even  while  Livia  knew 
this  well  enough,  she  thirsted  for  the  renown 
of  Evander's  love ;  she  felt,  not,  indeed,  answer- 
ing love,  but  a  slave-like  gratitude  for  his 
magnanimity  and  feminine  pride  in  her  suc- 
cess, which  she  mistook  for  love. 


82 


VII 
APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

A  MOUNTAIN,  whose  summits  and 
topmost  glens  were  deep  in  snow, 
h.  rose,  rent  and  jagged,  to  one  brood- 
ing cumulus  that  hung  above  it,  and  curled  on 
the  blue  like  a  silver  dragon.  Presently  the 
cloud  furled  its  pinions  and  settled  on  the  peak. 

Apollo  dismounted  and  waited  for  his 
servant  Evander,  who  came  to  speak  with  him. 

All  the  sky  was  radiant  azure  ;  but  beneath 
it  one  great  passage  of  shadow  spread  across 
the  sunlit  snow  and  rippled,  as  it  rose  and 
fell  to  the  contours  of  the  land.  There  life 
fought  for  a  place  on  the  uplifted  earth  and  a 
thin,  sore-stricken  pinewood  fretted  the  snow ; 
but  beneath,  at  gentler  altitudes,  many  a 
green  thing  grew  more  happily,  and  whole 
forests   basked   against   the   spurs   and   crags, 

83 


EVANDER 

that  broke  from  their  verdancy  to  buttress  the 
mountain  crowns.  Here  fell  precipices  until 
the  lower  hills  caught  them,  where  hung  little 
plateaux  and  nestled  fertile  slopes  on  the 
ledges  of  stone.  Then,  by  a  thousand  de- 
clivities, there  spread  and  oozed  through  every 
valley  and  beneath  every  height  the  work  of 
man — terrace  upon  terrace,  step  upon  step. 

Now  the  trellises  of  his  vines  made  a  splen- 
dour of  every  knap  and  knoll,  and  his  olives 
wound  their  orchards,  like  a  grey  veil, 
round  the  throats  of  the  old,  wrinkled 
hills.  And  breaking  from  the  rolling  green, 
like  wedges  of  brown  honeycomb,  his  hamlets 
and  villages  clung  and  congregated  about  little 
altars  of  the  gods.  Here  chestnuts  lifted  their 
brightness  to  the  girdle  of  the  pines ;  here 
again  swung  out  some  great  marble  cliff  to 
distribute  the  awful  burden  of  the  mountain. 

Sunk  in  the  midst  of  an  immense  cup, 
whose  broken  rim  was  the  snow-clad  peaks, 
whose  sides  were  chased  and  fretted  with 
forests  and  steep  places,  jewelled  with  men's 
homes,   glorified   with   the   verdure   of  June, 

84 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

there  spread  the  Larian  lake  ;  and  round  it, 
like  bright  shells  scattered  on  a  beach,  other 
hamlets  clustered. 

The  hymn  of  Light  was  being  sung  over 
Italy.  Great  cloud  masses  lumbered  beneath 
the  zenith  and  discharged  their  burden  of 
reflected  brightness  into  Larius ;  for  light 
rather  than  rain  they  bore  and  their  splendour 
was  mirrored  in  the  waters  beneath  them,  to 
kill  the  blue  with  brightness.  This  effulgent 
vision  spread  upon  the  face  of  the  lake,  and 
currents  of  wind  also  touched  it  until  the  deep 
fluttered  into  transitory  darkness  at  their 
pressure. 

The  last  enchanter  to  move  upon  Larius 
was  shade,  and,  as  wonderful  as  the  reflections 
of  the  light,  there  roamed  over  the  water 
wine-purple  shadows  of  the  high  clouds.  They 
seemed  ponderable  and  sank  from  the  surface 
to  stain  the  depths ;  while  amid  their  patterns 
and  tinctures  of  lapis  lazuli,  the  sun  shone 
directly  and  woke  rich  blues  and  emerald 
greens,  that  set  the  shadow  shapes  in  a  net- 
work of  brilliant  enamels  and  followed  their 

85 


EVANDER 

changingfoutlines  as  they  dislimned  and  passed 
again. 

Magical  was  the  sleight  that  shadows  played 
with  the  shore  also.  They  flew  over  forests 
and  mountains  like  a  flock  of  great-winged 
birds  ;  they  hid  whole  villages  beneath  their 
gloom  and  then,  lifting,  revealed  the  vanished 
homesteads  again,  aglow  in  the  sunlight. 

Yet  all  this  detail  and  harmonious  splendour 
was  as  nothing  to  the  incarnate  spirit  of  light 
that  gave  birth  to  it.  Light  quickened  noon 
and  throbbed  through  the  veins  of  the  earth- 
mother.  From  cloud  to  mountain,  from 
mountain  to  the  least  flower  that  dwelt  thereon, 
the  spirit  forgot  nothing.  It  swept  land  and 
lake  and  sky  with  a  presence  like  a  bloom — a 
blessed  aura  that  crowned  all  things  in  earth 
and  heaven  ;  an  ineffable  glory  of  melting, 
magic  blue,  that  soaked  through  matter  and 
spread  Demeter's  own  veil  of  violet  and 
gentian,  between  Persephone  and  every  eye 
that  might  gaze  and  grow  dim  at  sight  of 
her. 

The  God  of  Day  was  well  pleased  and  his 
86 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

solemn  eyes  rested  upon  the  world,  where  it 
rolled  at  his  immortal  feet  and  uttered  a  thanks- 
giving for  his  gift  of  sunshine.  Then  came 
Evander  and  made  obeisance. 

"  Your  situation  is  known  to  me,"  said 
Apollo  ;  "  you  need  not,  therefore,  be  at  the 
trouble  to  rehearse  it.  I  may  tell  you  frankly 
that  I  do  not  always  see  at  one  with  the 
Supreme.  Jupiter  is  my  father,  and  he  would 
be  the  last  to  say  that  I  am  not  a  worthy  son  ; 
but,  as  with  gods  so  with  men  :  the  seed  of 
one  man,  or  woman,  will  blossom  into  both 
weeds  and  flowers,  and  who  can  tell  why  this 
boy  is  a  saint  and  his  brother  a  rascal ;  this 
boy  a  genius,  that  one  first  cousin  to  an  idiot  ? 
We  only  know  it  is  the  will  of  Jupiter  and  must 
leave  it  at  that.  With  gods,  I  repeat,  this  law 
of  nature  holds.  Were  not  Bacchus  and  I 
both  begotten  of  the  Highest  ?  I  need  not 
pursue  the  illustration." 

He  paused  awhile  and  followed  his  thoughts 
in  silence.    Then  he  returned  to  Evander. 

"  Your  case  has  occasioned  a  difference  of 
opinion   among   us,   and   I   find  myself  in   a 

87 


EVANDER 

minority.  That,  however,  is  no  new  experi- 
ence for  me.  It  is  enough  that  my  august 
sister,  Diana,  sees  with  my  eyes.  Indeed,  she 
usually  reflects  my  highest  thought,  even  as 
the  moon  reflects  the  sun  upon  her  bosom. 
We  are  agreed  concerning  your  affair,  and 
when  we  agree,  the  opposition  of  other 
divinities  seldom  causes  us  any  uneasiness. 
There  is  no  question  but  that  our  servant, 
Livia,  must  leave  this  boor,  her  husband. 
Faithful  as  he  is  to  Bacchus,  it  follows  that  he 
can  be  no  spouse  for  any  disciple  of  mine. 
Certain  cynical  gods,  who  entertain  less  hope 
of  your  race  than  I  do,  have  hinted  that  this 
woman  is  deluding  herself  and  you  ;  but  fear 
not.  It  is  enough  that  I  do  not  think  so  ;  it 
is  enough  that  I  see  her  associated  with  you 
as  my  active  servant,  ardent  disciple  and  stead- 
fast follower.  Any  disposition  to  backsliding, 
did  such  occur,  will  be  your  affair  to  control 
and  combat.  In  your  hands  she  should  be 
strong,  and  the  happiness  of  sacrifice  and  self- 
control,  which  is  the  priceless  reward  of  those 
who  keep  my  words,  should  be  hers,  even  as  it 
88 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

is  already  yours.  In  short,  my  sister  com- 
mends this  union  and  I  command  it.  Livia 
must  abandon  Festus  and  cast  in  her  lot  with 
you.  The  future  will  depend  upon  your 
united  efforts,  and  the  ultimate  reward,  since 
I  am  the  living  soul  of  justice,  may  safely  be 
left  to  me." 

Evander  bowed  and  became  a  little  too  self- 
conscious  for  the  company  of  his  god. 

"  Only  an  intellectual  could  afford  to  pursue 
this  line  of  action,  Shining  One  ;  but  what 
would  be  difficult,  probably  impossible,  for 
those  of  less  luminous  faith  and  moral  courage, 
will  be  well  within  my  power." 

Thus  replied  Evander  (smugly,  it  must  be 
confessed)  and  the  god  snubbed  him. 

"  Boast  not  yourself  in  your  intellect,  but 
on  my  support,"  he  answered.  "  I  notice 
among  certain  of  my  followers  a  disposition  to 
undue  elation  on  the  subject  of  their  intelli- 
gence. Consider,  however,  who  call  you  the 
'  intellectuals '  ?  The  rank  and  file  of  man- 
kind, who,  being  practically  without  any  intel- 
lect whatever,  are  prone  to  servile  flattery 
89 


EVANDER 

before  those  who  exhibit  even  a  modest 
evidence  thereof.  There  is  no  salt  in  the 
praise  of  fools,  or  significance  in  the  applause 
of  the  norm  of  men.  Your  mental  gym- 
nastics and  gyrations  ;  your  opinions  and 
ideas  ;  your  approval  or  disapproval — these 
help  not  either  to  remodel  the  world,  or  alter 
the  real  convictions  of  anybody.  Remember 
that  when  the  gods  design  a  change  on  earth, 
they  do  not  choose  the  '  intellectuals '  as  their 
tools,  but  cast  about  for  the  man  of  his  hands, 
whose  force  can  influence  his  kind,  whose 
voice  can  make  a  nation  move  at  his  call, 
whose  power  can  be  felt  in  the  hearts  of  king- 
doms. Those  who  have  created  the  history 
of  the  human  race,  ate  meat,  risked  their  own 
lives  daily  and  feared  nothing.  The  'intel- 
lectuals '  are  decorative,  even  valuable  in 
their  way,  and  I  am  the  last  to  speak  lightly  of 
them,  since  one  and  all  are  mine  ;  but  if  they 
have  a  fault,  it  is  their  unintelligent  assump- 
tion that  they  really  matter ;  and  a  stupid  world, 
dazzled,  as  I  say,  by  the  slightest  manifestation 
of  intelligence,  is  prone  to  feed  this  error  and 
90 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

foster  their  delusion.  You  have  your  place  in 
the  cosmos,  even  as  art,  music  and  other 
desirable  manifestations  of  human  energy  and 
imagination,  which  I  myself  inspire  ;  but  you 
must  not  make  the  mistake  of  supposing  that 
you  alter  anything,  retard  anything,  hasten 
anything,  or  control  anything.  You  afford 
entertainment  to  a  very  small  minority — 
nothing  more  than  that." 

Before  this  challenge  Evander  showed  a 
spark  of  human  feeling.  He  tried,  indeed,  to 
get  a  little  of  his  own  back,  as  they  say. 

"  When  you  tell  me  that  the  '  intellectuals  ' 
are  all  yours,  Giver  of  Light,  I  fear  you  have 
been  misinformed,"  he  murmured.  "  Certain 
of  them  wallow  openly  in  the  sty,  and  not  only 
eat  birds  and  beasts,  but  also  wash  them  down 
with  juice  of  the  grape  in  very  large  quantities 
— when  opportunity  occurs.  They  preach 
their  opinions  balanced  on  a  wine-skin,  and 
some  are  notoriously  at  their  best  when  under 
the  influence  of  the  accursed  berry  of  Bacchus. 
Such  take  your  doctrines  plentifully  diluted 
and  glory  in  the  flesh.    They  lead  the  life  of 

91 


VANDER 

pleasure  in  bo  ly  as  well  as  spirit,  and  find 
existence  much  more  amusing  than,  of  course, 
they  have  any  l'ght  to  find  it.  I  know  what  I 
am  talking  about,  for  I  have  met  and  argued 
with  these  fellows,  and  though  they  are  a 
devious  and  tricky  sort,  who  lack  honesty  in 
argument  and  care  not  by  what  mean  dialectics 
they  reach  their  goal,  yet  it  is  idle  to  deny 
them  a  surpassing  measure  of  brain  power, 
however  false  and  ridiculous  their  conclusions." 
"  You  know  nothing  at  all,"  replied  the  god, 
"  and  if  such  vain  sophists  can  get  the  better 
of  you  in  argument,  so  much  the  worse  for 
your  own  wits.  I  say  that  all  of  you,  whether 
of  my  cult,  or  a  lesser,  are  neither  better  nor 
worse  than  other  people.  You  are,  in  fact, 
merely  noisier.  And  when,  therefore,  you 
suggest  that  only  an  *  intellectual '  can  appro- 
priate another  man's  wife  without  censure, 
you  talk  through  your  hat,  if  you  will  pardon 
the  expression.  You  will  run  away  with 
Livia,  not  because  you  are  an  '  intellectual,' 
but  because  I  tell  you  to  do  so.  You  take  her 
from  the  torment  of  life  shared  with  Festus, 
92 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

because  you  are  a  man  of  courage  and  under- 
standing, sense  and  self-control.  Many  who 
lay  no  claim  to  exceptional  intellect  have  done 
as  much — perhaps  more  successfully  than  you 
will.  And  remember  for  your  chastening, 
that  between  the  highest  human  intellect  and 
the  lowest,  there  is  really  no  very  appreciable 
diversity  in  divine  eyes.  The  ants  and  locusts 
vary  as  much.  They,  too,  have  their  '  intel- 
lectuals,' and  the  hive  also  knows  them.  One 
spider  differs  from  another  in  cunning,  and  it 
is  not  the  '  intellectual '  fish  that  your  father 
catches,  but  the  duffer. 

"  In  truth,"  concluded  the  Shining  One 
"  you  hold  the  germ  of  intellect,  but  really 
little  more  at  this  stage  of  your  history,  and 
the  very  fact  that  you  '  intellectuals,'  so  to 
call  you,  are  the  last  persons  to  the  fore,  when 
anything  has  got  to  be  done,  shows  too  clearly 
that  reason  is  still  but  a  broken  reed  among 
you.  The  prime  gift  of  your  Creator  you 
resolutely  flout  and  neglect.  Why,  even  the 
*  intellectuals '  themselves  make  war  on  reason, 
using  their  reasoning  powers  to  do  so  !  " 

93 


EVANDER 

Evander  bowed  his  head  before  this  lecture, 
which  he  naturally  applied  to  certain  of  his 
friends  rather  than  himself.  He  then  begged 
for  guidance  as  to  his  next  move  and  so  put 
his  foot  into  it  once  more. 

"  The  details  are  yours,  not  mine,"  replied 
Apollo  coldly.  "  One  does  not  come  to  me 
to  learn  the  scales  on  the  lyre,  but  to  listen  to 
the  utmost  a  lyre  can  be  made  to  do.  You  ask 
me  to  direct  your  course  of  action  and  I  have 
done  so.  Being  an  '  intellectual,'  I  doubt  not 
the  necessary  details  will  lie  within  your  reach. 
Your  wits,  I  imagine,  are  called  to  cope  with 
the  right  arm  of  Festus,  for  he  attaches  great 
importance  to  the  possession  of  Livia,  and  will 
not  suffer  the  woman  to  depart  from  him 
without  such  opposition  as  occurs  to  his 
indignant  heart.  Livia  herself  will  raise  no 
difficulty,  since  she  aspires  to  be  your  helpmate  ; 
but  regarding  Festus — that  is  entirely  your 
affair,  and  if  your  intelligence  and  craft  cannot 
triumph  over  his  brute  strength,  then  you 
will  only  afford  another  example  of  what  I 
say  :    that  the  momentous  affairs  of  the  world 

94 


APOLLO  AND  EVANDER 

depend  far  less  upon  the  talkers,  than  the 
talkers  are  prone  to  believe." 

Evander,  however,  discovered  in  his  reply 
that  diplomacy  has  its  uses. 

"  Since  the  ultimate  appeal  must  lie  between 
Apollo  and  Bacchus,"  he  answered,  "  there 
can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  issue." 

The  Lord  of  Light  was  gratified. 

"  You  have  spoken  well,"  he  said,  "  and  I 
entertain  every  hope  of  your  success." 

He  then  vanished,  and  his  disciple  wandered 
down  the  mountain-side,  deeply  conscious  that, 
for  once,  physical  action  was  demanded.  He 
hesitated  to  enter  a  world  so  much  outside  his 
own.  In  matters  of  thought,  he  had  ever 
moved  securely  ;  but  his  thought,  though  it 
had  often  provoked  other  people  through 
irritation  into  action,  which  it  is  the  province 
of  thought  to  do,  had  never  taken  him  into 
the  field  of  action  until  now. 

He  regretted  the  necessity.  When  some- 
thing had  to  be  said — disagreeable  or  other- 
wise— Evander  was  always  ready  and  willing  ; 
but  now  something  had  to  be  done. 

95 


EVANDER 

He  consoled  himself  with  a  reflection. 

"  Everybody  knows  that  moral  bravery  is 
much  rarer  and  grander  than  physical  courage," 
he  thought.  "  Then  it  follows  that  I,  who 
lack  not  the  first  gift,  shall  of  a  surety  find 
myself  endowed  with  the  second." 

He  began  by  doubting  whether  there  was 
really  any  need  for  haste  ;  but  he  decided 
before  he  reached  his  home  that  haste  must  be 
made.  He  felt  that  he  had  better  act  while 
the  mandate  of  Apollo  still  sounded  in  his 
ears. 

"  To-night,"  he  said  aloud.  But  his  own 
familiar  voice  surprised  him,  for  there  had 
come  into  it  a  new  and  untranquil  tone. 


96 


VIII 

BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

BY  one  of  those  coincidences,  common 
in  real  life  but  viewed  uneasily  by  the 
artist,  Festus  sought  his  god  on  the 
evening  of  the  day  when  Evander  listened  to 
Apollo. 

The  woodman's  patience  broke  down  at 
last  and  he  began  to  realise  the  gravity  of  his 
position.  Livia  throve  on  hard  words  and 
Festus  grew  ashamed  and  miserable  at  utter- 
ing so  many.  More  than  her  perversity,  it 
exasperated  him  to  feel  his  own  failure.  He 
was  angrier  with  himself  than  with  her,  as  so 
often  happens  in  these  cases,  for  our  annoy- 
ance, when  our  will  fails  to  impose  itself  upon 
another,  is  really  personal,  though  at  the  time 
we  imagine  otherwise. 

Festus  now  felt  the  situation  no  longer  to 
h  97 


EVANDER 

be  endured,  and  when  Carmenta,  concerned 
for  her  daughter,  told  him  that  he  was  a  tyrant, 
a  bully,  a  slave-driver  and  a  disgrace  to  man- 
hood, he — poor  soul — after  failing  to  con- 
vince her  that  his  only  purpose  was  to  open 
his  wife's  eyes  to  her  mistake,  began  to  see 
that  none  save  Bacchus  himself  could  throw 
any  light  upon  the  painful  problem. 

And  when  dusk  came  down,  he  sought  the 
courts  of  the  god,  for  it  happened  at  this 
season  that  Bacchus  and  his  train  were  harbour- 
ing in  the  woods  about  Larius,  and  the  drone 
of  drums,  the  tinkle  of  distant  cymbals  and 
the  blaze  of  great  fires  were  nightly  to  be 
heard  and  seen  upon  the  hills. 

Festus  found  the  merry  throng  without 
difficulty.  Bacchus  himself,  crowned  with  a 
wreath  of  ivy,  lolled  in  the  midst,  while 
bacchants  replenished  his  golden  cup  when  it 
was  empty.  Silenus,  oldest  of  satyrs — he  who 
prompted  Bacchus  to  the  vine  cult — sat  beside 
him  on  a  wine-skin.  He  was  ancient,  bald, 
pot-bellied,  with  a  fat  breast  as  hairy  as  a 
beast.     His  nose  was  round  and  red,  his  eyes, 

98 


BACCHUS  AND  F EST  US 

diamond  bright  and  merry  as  laughter's  self. 
An  ass  was  tethered  behind  him  and  stood 
munching  a  litter  of  maize.  The  unvenerable 
but  sagacious  deity  was  not  drunk,  but  merely 
market  merry. 

Round  about  a  noble  fire,  that  blazed  in 
the  midst  of  the  party,  sat  also  bearded 
Silvanus,  protector  of  fields  and  flocks ;  Faunus 
himself,  divine  master  of  all  woodlands  and 
wild  creatures ;  fair  Libitina,  guardian  god- 
dess of  garths  and  voluptuous  delights  ;  and 
august  Mater  Matuta,  the  deity  of  birth  and 
dawn.  Pales,  who  protects  the  herdsmen  and 
shepherds,  was  also  there,  and  young  Feronia, 
spirit  of  flowers  ;  Pomona,  goddess  of  the 
fruit  trees,  and  Vertumnus,  her  husband,  who 
taught  the  use  of  the  pruning-knife.  Nor  was 
Juturna,  mother  of  all  fountains,  absent  ;  she 
who  bore  to  Janus  young  Fontus,  the  god  of 
Springs. 

Many  lesser  immortal  folk  completed  the 
company.  Fauns  and  satyrs  ringed  the  fire, 
with  nymphs  and  naiads  of  the  rill  and  stream, 
oreads  of  the  hills,   dryads   and  hamadryads 

99 


EFJNDER 

who  cherish  the  forest  trees.  In  a  circle  close 
to  the  burning  logs,  their  eyes  glimmering  like 
emeralds  and  rubies,  sat  the  Panisci  eating 
grapes  and  warming  their  little  ivory  hooves. 
The  bacchants  had  laid  down  their  thyrsi, 
their  tambourines  and  their  cymbals  and  were 
also  resting  for  a  while  after  a  corybantic 
whirlwind. 

The  oread  who  had  recited  to  Carmenta, 
was  just  about  to  begin  one  of  her  poems, 
when  Festus  appeared  in  the  red  light  and 
flung  himself  upon  his  face. 

"  Who  art  thou  ?  "  asked  Libitina,  and  the 
suppliant,  rising  to  his  knees,  made  answer. 

"  I  am  Festus,  the  woodman,  and  I  humbly 
pray  my  god  and  master  to  hear  me." 

"  You  shall  speak,"  replied  the  Care-dis- 
peller.  "  Not  that  it  is  needful,  for  I  know 
why  you  are  come  ;  but  first  we  will  hear  this 
oread,  whose  turn  it  is  to  entertain  us." 

"  Great  god,"  began  the  oread,  "  I  much 
fear  the  poem  is  overlong." 

"  Then  do  not  make  it  longer  with  explana- 
tions and  apologies,"  retorted  Bacchus.  "  We 
ioo 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

shall  better  judge  if  it  be  too  long  after  we 
have  heard  it." 

"  It  is  a  minor  incident  in  the  life  of 
Demeter,"  proceeded  the  poet,  and  again 
Bacchus  stopped  her. 

"  All  this  we  shall  learn  from  the  poem," 
he  said.  "  Therefore  proceed,  fair  lady,  for 
other  pleasures  await  us  beside  your  verses." 

The  dreamy  eyes  of  the  god,  which  in  the 
firelight  were  as  deep  pools  of  purple,  shone 
benignantly  beneath  his  crown  of  leaves,  and 
when  the  oread  began,  he  closed  them,  the 
better  to  estimate  her  performance. 

She  made  a  nervous  start  and  it  seemed, 
indeed,  that  her  fatal  weakness  was  always  to 
extend  her  compositions  beyond  seemly  length. 
But  courtesy  to  an  artist  is  a  rule  of  the  Bacchic 
court.  Not  a  sound  interrupted  her  delivery, 
and  even  the  Panisci  listened  with  the  patience 
that  the  least  of  those  who  seek  to  entertain  us 
should  earn  from  right-thinking  gods  and 
men. 

She  told  the  tale  of  Demeter  and  that  wilful 
101 


EVANDER 

imp,  Abbas,  who  paid  such  a  hard  price  for  his 
improper  behaviour. 

On  a  far  day,  Demeter,  wandering, 

Came  wearied  to  a  little  dingle  deep, 
Where  leapt  the  crystal  of  a  secret  spring, 

And  countless  starry  blossoms  woke  from  sleep. 
The  Mother  smiled  and  took  great  joy  to  find 
A  peaceful  resting-place  so  fitted  to  her  mind. 

Straight  from  the  cold,  sweet  cisterns  of  the  earth 
That  fountain  leapt,  the  goddess  longed  to  taste  ; 

But  first  she  ministered  unto  the  dearth 
Of  a  wood  hyacinth,  then,  without  haste, 

Made  tender  quest  to  see  if  all  were  well 

With  every  precious  thing  that  homed  upon  the  dell. 

She  stroked  the  golden  saxifrage  that  hung 
Over  the  fountain  ;   many  a  primrose  bright 

Trembled  beneath  her  hand  ;  aloft  among 
The  lemon  catkins,  sparks  of  crimson  light 

The  goddess  counted,  knowing  that  in  these 

Lay  hid  the  harvest  sweet  of  all  those  hazel  trees. 

The  dim  wood-rush,  the  dewy  moschateL 
The  sun-bright  kingcup  and  the  orchis  sweet, 

The  least  campanula  with  azure  bell, 

And  the  veined  violet,  kissed  her  tired  feet. 

Sure  the  forget-me-not  had  never  known 

That  Dame  Demeter's  eyes  were  bluer  than  her  own. 

102 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

Now  sat  she  down  and  arched  her  stately  palm 
To  make  a  ready  cup  whence  she  might  drink  ; 

Whereon  t  ere  swam,  without  a  thought  of  harm, 
A  shoal  of  shining  minnows  to  the  brink  ; 

Touched  her  white  fingers  and,  with  glad  surprise, 

Stared  up,  a  humble  love  in  all  their  goggled  eyes. 

Alas  !   that  on  an  hour  so  gracious,  fair 

And  comely,  falls  a  shade  ;  it  must  be  told 

How  laughter  shrill  awoke  the  ambient  air, 
And  echoed  rude  and  shrill  and  overbold. 

A  naked  human  boy  the  reeds  among 

Made  faces  and  poked  out  his  saucy  little  tongue. 

Demeter,  scarcely  used  to  infant  slight — 
For  sweet  Persephone  and  griefs  to  come 

Were  hidden  still  within  uncertain  light 
Of  future  time — the  urchin  ordered  home. 

But  little  Abbas  laughed  and  disobeyed, 

For  at  her  lovely  look,  what  child  could  be  afraid  ? 

"  Then  shalt  thou  be  a  human  boy  no  more  !  " 
Quoth  the  great  goddess,  "  but  a  plague  and  pest 

To  every  traveller  upon  this  shore. 

To  all  who  hither  come  on  thirsty  quest 

Of  these  bright  waters,  henceforth,  prone  and  mute, 

Thou  art,  thou  naughty  rogue,  a  scarlet-crested  newt !  " 

With  but  one  ay  poor  Abbas,  down  and  down, 
Sank  through  the  silver  to  the  amber  sands 

Beneath  the  fountain  ;  changed  from  pink  to  brown  ; 
Put  forth  small  paws  instead  of  feet  and  hands ; 

103 


EVANDER 

Dwindled  to  inches  three,  while  like  a  flame 
Along  his  back  and  tail,  a  scarlet  crest  there  came. 

Now,  when  the  wayworn  traveller  runs  to  sip 
And  bends  to  touch  the  sparkling  crystal  clear, 

Young  Abbas  creeps  upon  his  nether  lip, 
Whereon  he  leaps  with  horror,  or  with  fear. 

But  should  this  hap  to  you,  feel  no  annoy  ; 

The  scarlet-crested  newt  was  once  a  little  boy. 

None  applauded  at  the  completion  of  the 
poem  until  Bacchus  clapped  his  hands.  Then 
the  oread  received  a  gratifying  testimonial  to 
her  talent. 

"  Too  long,  as  you  feared,"  declared  the 
god,  "  but  none  the  less  a  promising  effort." 

"  I  have  always  thought  that  Demeter's 
punishment  was  in  excess  of  the  child's  crime," 
said  Mater  Matuta,  "  but  so,  indeed,  I  often 
find  myself  thinking  before  the  ways  of  gods 
with  men." 

"  Demeter  is  a  little  apt  to  deceive  humanity 
— unconsciously,  of  course,"  remarked  Silvanus. 
"  She  looks  so  benignant  that  the  people  err, 
and  having  gazed  upon  her  face,  often  find  that 
her  temper  is  cast  in  another  pattern." 
104 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

"  But  she  is  a  blessed  goddess  and  has  seen  a 
great  deal  of  trouble,"  answered  juturna. 

Then  Bacchus  turned  to  the  oread. 

"  You  shall  join  us,"  he  said.  "  Let  her 
drink  from  my  cup  and  sit  beside  me." 

"  We  must  tune  her  to  wilder  music,  how- 
ever— worthy  of  dithyrambic  measures.  This 
is  a  little  starched  and  prim  for  our  society," 
declared  Libitina. 

They  had  all  forgotten  the  woodman,  but 
now  the  eyes  of  Bacchus  sought  him,  where  he 
stood  without  the  circle  leaning  against  a 
pine,  and  he  bade  Festus  stand  forth  and  tell 
his  trouble. 

"I  am  a  married  man,"  he  announced, 
"  and  knowing  well  that  I  worshipped  Bacchus 
and  made  my  sacrifice  at  his  altar,  Livia,  the 
daughter  of  Carmenta,  came  to  my  home  con- 
tent that  my  god  should  henceforth  be  hers 
also.  For  a  brief  while  all  went  happily  with 
us,  then  circumstances  inclined  her  to  another 
god  and  she  now  worships  Apollo.  This  is  to 
break  her  bargain  with  me.  I  have  done 
all  in  a  man's  power  to  bring  her  back  to  you, 
105 


EVANDER 

Divine  One,  but  despite  words  and  even  blows, 
for  in  my  exasperation  I  have  struck  her,  she 
cleaves  to  Apollo  and  prays  to  him  the  more 
resolutely  for  my  remonstrance.  Nevertheless, 
I  still  love  her,  as  never  man  loved  woman 
before,  and  it  is  my  love  that  persecutes  her, 
since  well  I  know  that  if  she  were  her  true  self 
and  not  blinded  and  deluded,  she  would 
naturally  find  in  Bacchus  the  rule  most  suited 
to  her  spirit.  For  she  is  changed  by  this  error. 
She  laughs  no  more,  since  Apollo  loves  not 
laughter  ;  she  sings  no  more,  out  of  fear  that 
her  singing  will  not  be  perfect  enough  for  his 
ear.  She  suffers  my  correction  with  smiles  of 
delight,  and  is  happiest  when  I  am  most  harsh. 
Thus  the  people  see  in  her  a  martyr  and  in  me 
a  tyrant,  whereas — fire-drakes  and  furies ! — the 
truth  is  exactly  contrariwise,  for  she  is  the 
tyrant  and  I  am  the  martyr. 

"  I  pray,  Vine-bringer,  that  you  will  light 
my  steps  in  this  sad  tribulation  and  show  me 
how  best  I  may  save  my  Livia— both  for  your 
worship  and  my  love." 

"  Find  somebody  else,"  advised  Libitina. 
1 06 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

"  That  will  soon  bring  her  back  to  Bacchus 
and  her  proper  mate." 

"  I  do  not  want  anybody  else,  most  gracious 
goddess,"  replied  the  native.  "  I  love  her 
with  a  great  passion  and,  as  I  tell  you,  but  for 
this  new  craze,  she  would  love  me  gloriously, 
as  she  did  before  she  fell  in  with  Phcebus. 
Even  now  her  love  has  not  withered  to  death. 
There  is  enough  still  left  to  leap  into  a  fire 
again,  if  but  this  delusion  were  taken  from 
her  heart." 

"  A  child  will  bring  her  back,"  foretold 
Mater  Matuta. 

"  We  are  too  far  apart  for  that  to  happen," 
replied  Festus.  "  One  cannot  ask  for  such 
sacred  gifts  from  Livia  now.  Who  would 
desire  to  make  a  woman  the  mother  of  his 
child  when  so  great  a  cloud  stood  between 
them  ?  " 

Then,  looking  upon  this  rough  but  honest- 
hearted  woodman,  Bacchus  sorrowed  for  him. 

"  The  future  is  hidden  from  the  gods,"  he 
said,  "  though  it  is  our  sleight  to  pretend 
otherwise.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
107 


EVANDER 

nobody  is  more  anxious  about  the  future  than 
are  we,  and  it  may  be  that  nobody  has  more 
reason  for  such  anxiety.  For  the  naked  truth 
is  this  :  that  the  gods  and  goddesses  live  in 
man's  heart,  not  man  in  theirs  ;  and  if  man 
pluck  us  out  of  his  heart " 

He  paused  while  a  sigh  and  shiver  passed 
through  his  assembly. 

Faunus  bent  forward. 

"  These  are  no  words  for  a  human  ear,"  he 
whispered.  "  The  peasant  may  proclaim  this 
highly  compromising  truth  to  those  who  will 
understand  it." 

"  At  any  rate,"  proceeded  the  Giver  of  the 
Vine,  "  it  is  something  to  deserve  well  of  the 
future — a  remark  which  applies  quite  as  much 
to  us  as  to  you.  Then,  at  least,  we  come  to  it 
with  a  clear  conscience,  and  if  the  future  fail 
us,  we  have  not  the  additional  bitterness  of 
reproaching  ourselves.  We  always  hold  our 
punishments  too  great  for  the  occasion  and 
our  rewards  too  small.  In  fact,  none  that 
ever  I  met  was  satisfied  with  his  good  or  ill. 

"  With  respect  to  Livia,"  he  continued, 
108 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

"  you  err  from  natural  forthrightness  of  mind. 
Livia  must  have  full  liberty  to  worship  whom 
she  will.  No  woman  can  pray  to  a  god,  unless 
he  is  in  her  heart  ;  and  even  if  he  be  there, 
you  finite  beings  are  prone  to  self-deception 
and  may  either  go  with  a  god  hidden  in  your 
heart  and  know  it  not,  or  fancy  a  god  within 
you  when  he  is  far  away.  Not  piety  inclines 
Livia  to  Apollo,  but  a  natural  feminine  desire 
to  be  out  of  the  common  if  possible.  If  a 
woman  find  that  she  can  cut  a  dash,  she  will 
seldom  flinch  from  the  pain  of  the  price. 
Their  ambition  is  ever  to  stand  on  a  pedestal 
— nor  do  they  stop  to  think  if  their  feet  be 
beautiful  enough  for  that  position.  Livia, 
then,  is  cutting  a  dash,  and  you  are  helping 
her  to  do  so.  Thus  her  love  is  polluted  at  the 
source  and  she  is  loving  you  for  being  unkind  ; 
whereas  if  she  were  not  playing  a  part,  she 
would  hate  you  for  being  unkind  in  the 
normal  manner.  Go  home,  therefore,  and  be 
as  kind  as  you  know  how.  There  is  no  zest  like 
a  martyr's  ;  therefore  cease  to  whet  that  zest 
and  do  what  you  may  to  damp  it. 
109 


EVANDER 

"  A  period  of  discontent  must  follow,  for 
none  of  us  likes  to  come  down  off  his  or  her 
pedestal ;  but  in  process  of  time,  love  will 
return  to  its  natural  channel.  In  short,  give 
her  liberty  and  leave  to  pray  to  Apollo.  En- 
courage her  devotions.  Remind  her  if  she 
neglects  them.  Prepare  his  sacrifices  for  her  ; 
beam  upon  her  religious  enthusiasm  ;  spare 
no  thought  or  action  to  make  her  goings  soft 
and  her  ways  full  of  delight.  All  this  lies  well 
within  your  power,  for  you  are  a  model 
husband.  Persist  in  this  course  and,  if  I  know 
anything  of  Livia's  heart,  she  will  presently 
lose  this  Apollonian  flair  and  perceive  that 
your  god  has  also  a  good  deal  to  say  for  him- 
self. She  will  find  that  I,  Bacchus,  have  made 
her  husband  wise,  tolerant  and  gentle  ;  that  I 
have  helped  you  to  find  the  joke  that  lies  in  all 
human  quarrels,  like  a  sweet  pip,  at  the  core  of 
every  bitter  apple.  She  will  perceive  that  you 
are  a  sane  man,  who  seeks  to  bring  happiness 
to  your  fellow-creatures  and  shuns  to  come 
between  them  and  anything  that  may  cloud 
the  little  happiness  they  can  hope  for  in  this 
no 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

difficult  business  of  leading  a  distinguished 
life.  Then  your  altar  shall  again  be  her  altar 
and  your  god  her  god.  I  speak,  of  course,  with 
special  knowledge  of  Livia.  There  are  some 
women  to  whom  Apollo  makes  more  direct 
and  real  appeal  than  can  I.  But  such  a  woman 
would  not  have  wedded  you.  Therefore  de- 
part in  peace  and  act  as  I  have  spoken." 

Festus  returned  thanks  in  the  best  words 
that  he  could  command,  then  went  his  way 
from  the  presence,  in  good  heart  and  full  of  a 
cheerful  determination  to  withstand  his  wife 
no  more.  He  whistled  down  the  mountain- 
side, stood  for  a  moment  to  listen  to  the 
whirl  and  sob  of  the  timbrels  that  broke  out 
soon  after  his  departure,  and  then  sought  his 
home. 

But  a  shattering  surprise  awaited  him. 
Evander,  learning  that  Festus  had  gone  to  the 
mountains,  doubted  not  that  Apollo's  hand 
was  in  it  and,  hastening  to  Livia,  came  before 
her  as  her  saviour. 

"  Presently,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  be  united, 
in 


EVANDER 

and  a  life  of  ceaseless  well-doing  may,  in  the 
time  to  come,  win  us  such  divine  recognition 
as  we  desire  and  must  labour  to  deserve." 

He  then  touched  the  practical  side. 

"  A  boat  lies  at  the  beach  and  I  design  to 
row  you  to  yonder  spur  of  land  over  against 
our  present  homes.  On  that  peninsula  we  will 
dwell  and  soon  win  the  people's  hearts  with  our 
worth  and  wisdom.  As  for  Festus,  you  need 
have  no  fear  of  him.  We  are  under  Apollo's 
protection  henceforth,  and  no  mightier  god 
rules  human  hearts." 

"  It  will  be  a  nine-days'  wonder,"  said 
Livia,  "  and  people  are  sure  to  cry  our  names 
in  the  market-place.  Oh,  amazing  Evander  ! 
henceforth  I  dedicate  my  life  to  you,  and  never, 
if  I  live  to  be  a  hundred,  can  I  repay  you  for 
your  generosity  and  self-sacrifice.  To  have 
won  such  a  spirit  was  worth  my  crown  of 
suffering.  And  if  you  worship  Apollo,  then 
shall  I  worship  you,  for  you  are  his  priest  for 
ever,  and,  through  you,  his  ineffable  and 
burning  ray  will  fall  a  little  gentler  upon  my 
heart.     You  shall  lift  me,  raise  me,  sanctify 

112 


BACCHUS  AND  FESTUS 

me,  until  I  am  at  last  worthy  of  the  god  and 
you  yourself." 

"  Excellent  !  "  replied  Evander.  "  Now 
follow  me,  if  you  please." 

"  For  ever  and  for  ever,"  she  answered. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  when  Festus  burst 
into  his  hut,  shouted  for  Livia  and  told  her 
that  Bacchus  directed  she  must  henceforth 
worship  Apollo  and  command  every  facility 
for  so  doing,  the  lady  was  not  there  to  hear  his 
good  news. 


113 


IX 

'THE  PAIN   OF  "THE  PRICE 

FOR  a  long  time  her  great  achievement 
obliterated  the  true  Livia.  So  over- 
whelmed was  she  with  the  splendour 
of  Evander's  conduct,  that  her  words  came 
true  and  she  showed  him  far  more  reverence 
and  extended  to  him  a  worship  more  complete 
than  Apollo  himself  won  from  her.  She  kept 
ever  in  mind  the  extent  of  her  obligation  and 
the  immensity  of  his  condescension.  Indeed 
the  remarkable  thing  that  Evander  had  done, 
in  rescuing  Livia  from  Festus,  ran  on  many 
tongues  round  the  Larian  lake,  and  the  infamy 
of  Livia's  husband,  flying  on  rumour's  wings, 
grew  greater  as  it  spread,  until  the  people 
considered  whether  he  should  be  slain  for  his 
abominable  conduct.  Evander,  on  the  con- 
trary, though  in  plain  Italian  he  had  run  away 
114 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

with  another  man's  wife,  became  exalted  and 
all  men  agreed  that  he  was  worthy  of  praise. 
To  say  that  the  folk  were  as  pleased  with  him 
as  he  was  with  himself  would  be  but  a  slight 
exaggeration. 

For  his  part  he  treated  Livia  with  reverence, 
and  no  doubt  had  she  run  away  with  any  less 
excellent  person  than  Evander,  many  unkindly 
words  might  have  been  spoken.  But  he  was  a 
man  above  reproach,  and  though  certain 
brainless  fellows  of  the  baser  sort  held  him  to 
be  a  bore,  that  was  the  worst  ever  whispered 
against  him.  When,  too,  he  stated  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  peninsula  where  now  he 
made  his  home,  that  Apollo  had  personally 
directed  him  to  save  Livia  for  the  faith, 
none  dared  criticise.  Indeed,  Evander  came 
out  of  the  incident  with  flying  colours  every 
way  ;  for  it  increased  his  own  self-respect, 
which  is  always  desirable  ;  it  gave  him  for 
companion  an  adoring  woman — a  high  fortune 
enough  ;  and  it  led  the  people  to  regard  him 
as  a  man  of  fortitude  and  character  and  an 
acquisition  to  the  peninsula  in  every  way. 

"5 


EFJNDER 

His  purpose  was  to  educate  and  elevate  all 
who  would  listen  to  him.  He  designed  a  sort 
of  priestly  ministration  and  hoped  heartily  to 
lessen  the  woes  of  the  world  with  Livia's 
assistance.  He  credited  her  with  sound  judg- 
ment, in  virtue  of  her  attitude  towards  himself, 
and  he  argued  that  an  intellect  ready  to  accept 
him  as  completely  and  absolutely  as  she  had 
done,  must  be  of  fine  material  and  capable  of 
considerable  expansion. 

It  became  his  grateful  task,  therefore,  to 
preach  Apollo  to  Livia,  and  she  for  a  consider- 
able time  made  intuition,  which  she  possessed, 
serve  the  turn  of  intellect,  which  she  lacked. 
She  flashed  out  admirable  sentiments  and  even 
anticipated  an  Evander  conclusion  sometimes. 
Indeed,  she  promised  well  and  they  lived 
under  one  roof  in  great  contentment.  But  the 
strain  for  Livia  was  severe.  A  woman  can 
play  a  part  with  grace,  success  and  personal 
enjoyment  for  a  great  length  of  time,  but  not 
for  ever.  The  natural  feminine  instinct  is 
toward  a  change,  and  when  the  actress 
finds  life's  play  beginning  to  grow  dull,  her 
116 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

unfailing,  artistic  inspiration  is  to  try  some- 
thing new  and  expand  in  a  fresh  character 
giving  farther  scope  for  her  abilities. 

Livia  was  called  to  play  a  decidedly  difficult 
part  during  this  season  of  her  picturesque 
young  life.  Instead  of  the  pressure  diminish- 
ing, as  she  had  hoped  ;  instead  of  creeping 
presently  to  the  human  side  of  Evander  and 
winning  a  little  respite  from  his  exalted 
thinking  and  plain  living,  she  found  an  opposite 
tendency.  He  was  always  most  courteous  and 
considerate,  but  he  was  also  always  austere 
and  high-principled.  He  moved  on  such  a 
plane  that  Livia  sometimes  felt  the  air  almost 
too  rarefied  for  her  lungs.  She  struggled 
gamely  to  live  up  to  him  and  she  succeeded 
by  the  exercise  of  many  deceptions  and  great 
courage.  She  kept  her  admiration  and  grati- 
tude in  the  forefront  of  her  mind  and  blamed 
her  spirit  bitterly  at  any  occasional  display  of 
weakness,  or  shadow  of  doubt. 

They  lived  platonically  until  Livia  should  be 
free,  and  Evander,  though  full  of  wisdom  and 
virtue,  failed  to  perceive  that  what  was  the 
117 


EVANDER 

natural  condition  of  his  spirit  might  not  be 
reached  by  a  lesser  mind  without  effort.  In- 
deed, he  regarded  Livia  as  his  feminine  counter- 
part, a  musical  echo  of  himself — in  fact,  Diana 
to  his  Apollo — and  for  a  considerable  time,  at 
a  cost  he  was  never  to  learn,  she  succeeded  in 
preserving  this  impression.  She  kept  a  sleep- 
less watch  upon  her  tongue  and  never  uttered 
a  natural  thought  uncensored  by  her  mind. 
But  the  natural  thoughts  would  rise,  and 
though  she  put  them  from  her  with  scorn  and 
horror,  they  returned. 

Mneme,  that  ancient  Muse  of  Remembrance, 
did  not  forget  her,  and  pictures  from  the  past 
mirrored  themselves  in  her  wandering  thoughts. 
They  concerned  the  life  with  her  mother,  and 
it  hurt  her  unutterably  to  find  the  lower  part 
of  her  nature  winning  satisfaction  in  thinking 
of  the  days  at  the  wash-tub.  But  what  was 
far  worse,  when  memory  would  wing,  chiefly 
by  night,  her  futile  mind  not  seldom  turned 
to  her  days  with  Festus.  Nor  did  the  spectacle 
disgust  her  as  she  had  the  right  to  expect,  for 
it  is  a  gracious  quality  of  our  simple  human 
118 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

hearts  to  dwell  upon  the  past  sweet  of  life 
rather  than  the  bitter,  and  memory,  ignoring 
the  indignities  and  sorrows  and  all  things 
inconvenient  in  Livia's  former  existence  with 
the  woodman,  turned  its  light  and  focussed 
its  brightness  on  what  was  comely  and  made 
for  their  united  happiness  and  content. 

At  first  she  regarded  these  recollections  as  a 
deliberate  insult  to  Apollo  and  little  less  than 
an  outrage  on  Evander ;  but  the  fact  remained 
that  in  the  night  watches  her  heart  turned 
upon  past  happiness. 

She  did  not  whisper  these  things  to  the 
partner  her  god  had  given  her,  but  seeking  to 
explain  them  to  herself,  entered  upon  a  very 
painful  and  enlightening  analysis  of  her  own 
character.  Her  vocabulary  was  hardly  equal 
to  the  test  and,  since  the  mind  cannot  outrun 
the  machinery  of  words  with  which  we  think, 
no  very  subtle  depths  were  plumbed  by  Livia. 
Perhaps  no  very  subtle  depths  existed.  She 
found  at  least  that  what  she  believed  a  lofty 
enthusiasm  for  Apollo,  was  in  reality  the 
sudden  delight  of  finding  herself  at  the  centre 
119 


EVANDER 

of  her  own  small  stage.  It  was  not  Apollo 
who  had  made  her  deny  Festus  and  awaken 
his  indignation  and  ill  conduct,  but  the  con- 
sciousness that  by  taking  this  course  she  had 
unexpectedly  sprung  into  the  most  interesting 
and  challenging  girl  beside  the  lake.  Such 
fame  resulted,  not  from  her  worship  of  Apollo, 
but  from  her  husband's  attitude  towards  that 
devotion,  and  she  knew  now  exactly  what 
Bacchus  had  explained  to  the  woodman  :  that 
the  opposition  of  Festus,  with  its  consequent 
trial  to  herself,  was  what  upheld  her.  A  very 
stupid  vanity  had  to  be  thanked  for  the 
situation  ;  and  now  looking  back,  she  saw  a 
little  of  her  old  true  self  and  became  exceed- 
ingly depressed.  Nor  did  the  way  of  Apollo, 
exemplified  by  Evander's  steadfast  conduct, 
serve  as  anodyne  to  her  low  spirits.  She  con- 
tinued in  an  attitude  quite  servile  towards  her 
preserver  ;  but  what  was  at  first  a  reality, 
became  in  process  of  time  to  be  a  pose.  She 
abated  nothing  of  reverence  and  honestly 
felt  the  deepest  regard  for  him  ;  but,  in  the 
secret  places  of  her  heart,  she  began  to  doubt 
120 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

whether  Evander,  despite  his  generous  gifts 
of  mind  and  beauty  of  person,  despite  his  cool 
and  dignified  temper,  level  judgments  and  un- 
failing and  beautiful  attitude  to  herself,  really 
knew  anything  more  about  love  than  a  cater- 
pillar. Love,  in  her  experience,  demanded 
for  its  rites  a  certain  lack  of — well,  '  self- 
consciousness  '  was  the  only  word  that  occurred 
to  her.  Love  argued  a  power  to  forget  your- 
self sometimes  and  sacrifice  to  passion.  Now 
Evander  condescended  to  no  such  concessions. 
It  was  wildly  impossible  that  he  should  forget 
himself  for  a  moment,  and  his  blood  never 
prompted  him  to  play  the  fool  even  for  half 
an  hour.  Livia  accordingly  was  called  to  be 
careful.  Not  that  the  slightest  temptation 
ever  offered  to  play  the  fool  with  Evander. 
His  measured  accents,  deliberate  actions  and 
intellectual  outlook  on  all  things,  both  great 
and  small,  left  no  room  within  his  ordered 
days  for  frivolity  and  tempted  none  in  other 
people.  He  never  unbent  the  bow,  and 
having,  as  we  have  seen,  a  mistaken  impression 
that  Livia  was  the  feminine  complement  of 
121 


EFANDER 

himself,  felt  not  the  slightest  suspicion  that 
she  desired  or  required  any  such  relaxa- 
tion. 

He  designed  for  them  a  lifetime  of  well- 
doing, and  his  ambition  was  to  emulate  the 
mighty  teachers  of  old  and  presently  go  to 
Rome  and  found  a  Porch,  wherein  he  might 
instruct  the  rising  generation  for  Apollo's 
sake.    Livia  would,  of  course,  do  her  part  also. 

But  what  of  Festus  ? 

It  is  certain  that  he  suffered  a  great  deal, 
and  his  experiences,  beating  on  a  third-class 
brain  that  could  neither  appreciate  nor  ex- 
plain them,  very  nearly  unseated  his  reason. 
Indeed,  he  endured  great  torments,  because 
his  convictions,  inspired  by  genuine  love  for 
Livia,  hammered  into  him  that  these  things 
were  not  only  contrary  to  justice  and  right, 
but  flouted  reason  also.  For  Livia  had  loved 
him  :  he  knew  it.  She  must  soon  have  been 
supremely  happy  with  him  had  she  waited  for 
his  return  from  Bacchus.  In  their  bitterest 
moments  she  had  loved  him,  and  it  was  his 
love  of  her  that  had  made  him  cruel. 
122 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

He  threw  all  the  blame  on  Evander,  and  his 
first  design  was  to  swim  across  the  lake  with  a 
knife  in  his  teeth  and  not  rest  until  he  had  slain 
his  rival.  But  a  storm  blew  next  day,  and  by 
the  time  it  had  abated  the  anger  of  Festus 
began  to  kindle  against  Livia  herself.  Every- 
where the  people  shouted  at  him  that  she  was 
a  heroine  and  that  he  was  a  brute.  They  told 
him  that  he  had  got  less  than  he  deserved  ; 
that  henceforth  he  would  be  a  pariah  among 
them  and  no  fit  company  for  honest  men. 

He  went  to  see  Carmenta,  who  greeted  him 
somewhat  coldly,  but  she  blamed  him  less  for 
being  wicked  than  foolish. 

"  You  will  live  it  down,"  said  she.  "  This 
comes  of  marriage.  Be  warned  ;  set  her  free 
as  quickly  as  the  law  permits,  and  let  Evander 
marry  her.  We  shall  then  learn  if  his  wisdom 
extends  to  living  in  this  doubtful  state.  As 
far  as  women  go,  though  Livia  is  my  own 
daughter,  be  sure  there  are  as  good  fish  in  the 
lake  as  ever  came  out  of  it ;  and  always  were 
and  always  will  be  ;  but  '  once  bit  twice  shy  ' 
is  a  sound  saying.  Don't  marry  again.  Leave 
123 


EVANDER 

these  new-fangled  complications  of  life  to 
your  betters  and  remain  free." 

Festus  thanked  Carmenta,  who  had  put  an 
idea  into  his  head.  As  so  often  happens  when 
we  give  advice,  the  point  to  which  we  attach 
the  least  importance  is  seized  on  by  the 
listener,  who  anon  tells  us  that  what  we 
counselled  he  has  performed,  though  we  may 
doubt  exceedingly  whether  our  words  fairly 
bore  the  interpretation  he  has  placed  upon  them. 

Festus,  however,  did  not  do  what  Livia's 
mother  advised,  for  her  suggestion  set  him  on  a 
new  train  of  thoughts.  There  was  not  as  good 
a  girl  in  the  world  for  him  as  the  wife  he  had 
won.  There  could  be  no  second  Livia,  and  he 
perceived  that  any  attempt  to  be  angry  with 
her  for  more  than  a  moment  at  a  time  was 
impossible.  To  hate  her  would  be  to  misread 
the  past  in  the  light  of  the  present ;  to  con- 
template a  future  without  her  was  still  quite 
beyond  his  simple  soul.  In  fact  he  refused  to 
do  so,  and  when  Carmenta  reminded  him  that 
he  must  now  invoke  the  law  and  separate  from 
Livia,  he  started  on  a  series  of  considerations 
124 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

which  calmed  him  for  a  time  and  even  helped 
to  soothe  his  bewildered  and  stricken  heart. 

"  They  can't  have  it  both  ways,"  reflected 
Festus.  "  Indeed,  the  situation  is  a  night- 
mare— not  a  reality  at  all.  I'm  hoodwinked, 
spellbound,  hag-ridden,  foredoomed,  fated, 
and  all  the  rest  of  it,  if  you  look  at  my  fix  from 
the  outside  ;  but  there  is  one  stark  reality  to 
cling  to  in  this  welter,  and  that  is — I'm  mar- 
ried. I'm  married  to  Livia,  and  not  fifty 
Apollos  can  undo  it  if  I  don't  choose." 

He  had  wandered  as  far  as  the  forge  of  the 
smith  by  this  time  and  looked  in  to  see  if 
Fabius  scowled  upon  him,  as  most  people  now 
were  wont  to  do.  But  Fabius  never  scowled 
upon  anything,  unless  it  was  a  stubborn  mule 
who  would  not  be  shod.  For  the  moment  he 
was  singing  a  song  to  the  beat  of  a  heavy 
sledge-hammer. 

He  had  but  one  song  and  he  sang  it  many 
times  a  day. 

I'D  ling  a  song — 
Ding-ding-a-dong — 
Shall  waken  yesterday  from  ilumber. 

125 


EVANDER 

I'll  dust  its  toys, 

And  tell  its  joys, 
Iti  pleasures  count,  its  troubles  number. 

Ding-ding-a-dong, 

Ding-ding-a-dong — 
I  waken  yesterday  from  slumber. 

I'll  sing  a  song — 

Ding-ding-a-dong — 
Shall  the  eternal  present  favour 

And  tune  my  lay 

Unto  to-day, 
Its  greatness  and  its  stinging  savour. 

Ding-ding-a-dong, 

Ding-ding-a-dong — 
I  the  eternal  present  favour. 

I'll  sing  a  song — 

Ding-ding-a-dong — 
Shall  glorify  a  glad  to-morrow, 

Since  time  untold 

Do  all  men  hold 
The  only  time  that  knows  no  sorrow. 

Ding-ding-a-dong, 

Ding-ding-a-dong — 
I  glorify  a  glad  to-morrow. 

"  Can  I  do  anything  for  you,  Festus,  disciple 
of  Bacchus  ?  "  asked  the  smith  mildly. 
126 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

"  Yes,"  answered  Festus,  "  you  can  sing 
that  last  verse  again." 

Fabius  obliged  him  and  the  woodman 
spoke. 

"  It  is  a  great  truth  you  sing,"  he  declared. 
"  Though  the  past  is  sad  and  the  present  still 
more  so — I  speak  of  myself — the  future  cannot 
be." 

"  The  future  has  no  attributes,"  answered 
the  old  man,  "  and  therefore  the  truest  wisdom 
is  to  live  as  much  in  the  future  as  possible. 
The  sure  instinct  of  mankind  is  to  do  so.  From 
the  present,  full  often,  we  look  back  at  the 
past  and  find,  to  our  surprise,  that  we  have  left 
behind  the  happiness  we  thought  had  yet  to 
come.  Then  we  shed  futile  tears,  that  we 
cannot  go  back  and  live  those  days  again  with 
understanding  and  acknowledgment  of  their 
worth  ;  but  the  future  is  always  unsullied  ; 
the  future  is  the  home  of  good  resolves — an 
unturned  page  pure  for  most  of  us  ;  though 
indeed  many  define  it  by  anticipation." 

So  Festus  went  on  his  way  a  little  happier, 
and  if  his  future  embraced  no  higher  hope, 
127 


EVANDER 

or  nobler  purpose,  than  to  win  back  Livia  and 
be  a  good  husband,  we  must  remember  an 
ambition  that  looks  mean  to  us,  with  two 
thousand  five  hundred  years  of  marriage 
behind  us,  was  a  new  and  a  great  thing  to  him. 
The  state  conveyed  no  solemn  tradition  ;  it 
came  not  sanctified  through  the  centuries  ; 
and  that  Livia  had  broken  her  contract  did 
not  inspire  in  his  mind  that  universal  indigna- 
tion proper  to  such  an  act  to-day.  Because 
she,  too,  could  not  know  what  the  mystery  of 
marriage  meant,  or  measure  fairly  the  enor- 
mity of  her  rebellion.  All  that  Festus  really 
understood  was  this :  he  wanted  Livia  back 
again  with  his  whole  heart,  and  the  problem 
before  him  simply  amounted  to  a  question  of 
how  quickly  he  could  get  her  back. 

He  did  not  fear  Evander  in  the  least ; 
Apollo  was,  of  course,  the  difficulty.  But 
even  here  he  felt  that  things  might  come  right 
at  no  distant  time,  for  surely  Apollo  could  not 
remain  long  under  the  delusion  that  Livia  was 
a  true  disciple  and  servant  ?  The  gods  were 
highly  intelligent  ;  therefore  Apollo  must 
128 


THE  PAIN  OF  THE  PRICE 

surely  discover  that  Livia  could  never  be  of 
his  elect. 

That  night  there  came  a  dream  to  Festus, 
though  it  was  red  dawn  before  he  slept.  It 
seemed  that  Mercury  had  sent  Morpheus — 
that  gentle  son  of  Sleep — through  the  gate  of 
horn ;  yet  Morpheus  did  nothing  in  par- 
ticular. He  merely  smiled  on  Festus,  bade 
him  be  of  good  heart,  and  then  warbled — no 
divine  hymn,  or  celestial  measure,  but  the 
third  verse  of  the  smith's  homely  little  song. 
Thus  Festus  woke  refreshed ;  for  a  good  dream 
will  often  strengthen  the  weary  spirit  more 
than  sleep  itself. 


129 


X 

LIVIA  LAUGHED 

EVANDER  grew  mildly  anxious  be- 
cause there  came  no  news  concerning 
Festus. 
"If  his  wits  were  as  quick  as  his  temper, 
you  would  doubtless  be  free  ere  this,"  he  said 
to  Livia.  "  For  the  moment  we  must  wait 
his  pleasure.  One  can  only  hope  that  his 
sense  of  decorum,  or  the  good  advice  of  other 
people,  will  induce  him  to  proceed  and  liberate 
you  as  swiftly  as  it  may  be  done." 

Livia  was,  however,  depressed  at  this  season, 
and  Evander,  with  a  view  to  cheering  her 
spirits,  decided  that  they  should  make  a 
holiday. 

Wondering  in  secret  what  his  idea  of  a 
holiday  might  be,  she  willingly  agreed  to  do 
as  he  desired. 

130 


LIV1A  LAUGHED 

"  My  father,"  he  said,  "  shall  row  us  across 
the  lake  to  the  eastern  shore,  whence  he  and  I 
originally  came.  Then  will  we  climb  aloft 
and  eat  a  meal  lifted  up  nigh  the  snows  on 
yonder  mountain.  Perchance  Apollo  may 
look  upon  us  and  utter  a  word  of  encourage- 
ment and  cheer,  for  he  often  visits  that  lofty 
region." 

Cornelius,  Evander's  father,  rowed  them, 
and  they  landed  where  to-day  the  rowan-red 
tower  of  Varenna  stands  to  fling  the  music  of 
silver  bells  over  the  water. 

The  old  man  promised  to  return  at  evening 
time,  and,  meanwhile,  set  out  to  fish  ;  while 
Evander  went  forth  beside  Livia.  They 
climbed  among  the  cobbled  tracks  of  the 
mules,  ascended  beyond  the  olive  belt  and  pre- 
sently walked  amid  the  fir  trees  and  breathed 
the  breath  of  Eurus,  which  came  to  them 
cooled  by  mountain  snows. 

Evander    found   himself   in   an   instructive 

mood  and,  forgetting  that  their  purpose  was 

pleasure,  as  instructive  people  so  often  do,  he 

gleaned   many   a   sound   moral   and   elevating 

I31 


EVANDER 

fable  from  the  beautiful  world  spread  around 
them. 

They  ate  their  simple  repast,  and  while  he 
did  so,  the  young  man  repeated  a  poem  which 
had  come  to  him  during  the  previous  night. 

"  Being  sleepless,"  he  said,  "  I  looked  up  into 
the  sky  and  composed  the  following  stanzas." 

"  Did  you,  dear  heart  ?  ':  she  answered. 
"  How  wonderful  you  are  !  " 

"  It  is  becoming  in  a  disciple  of  Apollo  to 
strike  the  lyre,"  he  answered. 

"  Quite,"  she  said. 

Unlike  the  prolix  oread,  Evander  kept  his 
numbers  short.  It  was  an  advantage  that 
Livia  did  not  fully  appreciate  as  yet. 

Now  he  recited  his  verses. 

I  do  not  think  there  is  a  lonely  star 
Upon  the  firmament's  unmeasured  height. 
To  us  they  flash  their  messages  of  light 

And  show  their  circling  places  from  afar  ; 

But  still,  though  to  our  seeing  points  of  rest, 
If  we  but  soar  aloft  on  reason's  wing, 
We  find  in  each  a  mother  sun  to  bring 

Life  to  the  children  parted  from  her  breast. 

132 


L1VIA  LAUGHED 

What  shall  the  giants  blazing  on  our  night 
Behold  among  the  worlds  that  call  them  sun  ? 
What  consciousness  is  from  their  bosoms  spun  ? 

What  hearts  do  they  enchant,  what  eyes  delight  ? 

"  Very  beautiful,"  declared  Livia.  "  I'm 
sure  Apollo  would  love  it." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure,"  he  replied.  "  It  is, 
indeed,  rather  a  perilous  poem.  You  see, 
speculation  of  this  sort  travels  very  far  beyond 
the  accepted  order  of  things,  and  may  even 
tread  on  people's  corns.  I  am  not  altogether 
certain  that  it  does  not  traverse  sound  dogma 
and  perhaps  even  indicate  a  train  of  thought 
inimical  to  Apollo.  Now,  to  tread  on  Apollo's 
corns  is  no  task  for  me." 

"  Quite,"  she  answered,  and  Evander  indi- 
cated annoyance. 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't  keep  on  saying 
'  quite,'  "  he  retorted.  "  When  a  woman 
hasn't  the  most  shadowy  idea  of  what  I  am 
talking  and  doesn't  want  to  confess  it,  she 
always  says  *  quite.'  Apollo,  I  repeat,  might 
see  in  the  poem  a  suspicion  of  unfaith.  He 
might  argue  that  we  have  his  sun,  and  that 

133 


EVANDER 

his  sun  is  enough  for  us,  without  vague  opinions 
concerning  other  suns.  Why,  he  might  even 
be  seriously  annoyed  with  me  for  soaring 
aloft  on  reason's  wing  at  all." 

"  Qu "  began  Livia,  but  stopped.     "  In 

that  case,"  she  said,  "  I  should  forget  all  about 
the  poem.  If  he  heard  it  and  resented  it — 
how  awful !  " 

Evander  looked  up  a  little  nervously  him- 
self. 

"  It  shows  where  versification  uncontrolled 
by  faith  may  land  us,"  he  declared.  "  I  must 
make  a  sacrifice  to  Apollo  and  we  can  regard 
the  poem  as  deleted  from  my  repertory." 

"If  you  would  only  sleep  at  night  instead 
of  thinking  so  much,"  she  ventured.  "  And 
when  you  wake  up,  don't  look  at  the  stars. 
Just  turn  over  and  go  to  sleep  again." 

He  reproached  her. 

"  There  was  a  time — and  not  a  remote 
time — when  you  hoped  that  we  might  be 
translated  into  twin  stars  ourselves — circling 
in  the  heavens  for  ever  and  seen  by  common 
mortals  every  evening,  or  morning." 

134 


LIVIA  LAUGHED 

"  I  know,"  she  replied  wearily,  "  but  I'm 
not  so  keen  as  I  used  to  be  about  what  happens 
after  I'm  dead.  I'm  much  more  interested  in 
what  is  going  to  happen  before  I'm  dead.  I 
suppose  it's  a  come  down  rather  ;  but  after 
all,  you've  got  to  live  before  you  die." 

"  True,"  he  admitted  ;  "  but  life  is  merely 
a  preparation  for  death,  and  in  any  case,  when 
we  consider  the  trifling  duration  of  human 
life  balanced  against  the  immortality  of  stellar 
bodies,  this  existence  is  reduced  to  such  a 
pin-point  in  time  that  one  can  hardly  regard  it 
seriously.  How  brief  the  fullest  days !  How 
little  to  distinguish  or  commend  them  !  " 

"  Be  bright,"  she  begged  with  a  note  of 
something  akin  to  despair  in  her  voice.  "  Re- 
member this  is  a  pleasure  party.  We  are 
going  to  be  happy  and  live  in  the  passing  hour 
— just  for  once  in  a  way.  Whatever  Apollo 
may  say,  he's  always  bright,  so  I  suppose  he 
can't  blame  us  for  trying  to  be." 

Evander  shook  his  head. 

"  I  detect  a  play  upon  words,"  he  answered. 
"  That  is  unworthy  of  my  Livia." 

135 


EVANDER 

She  restrained  a  reply  that  would  not  have 
pleased  him  and  apologised. 

"  Sorry,"  she  said,  "  but  I  wanted  to  get  a 
light  touch  into  our  holiday  if  I  could." 

"  Do  not  confound  light  with  levity,"  he 
replied.  "  I  am  as  willing  as  any  man  to  enjoy 
innocent  happiness,  but  you  must  be  careful 
not  to  fall  into  a  way  of  cultivating  humour 
at  the  expense  of  wisdom.  There  is  very 
little  to  laugh  at  in  the  world  at  any  time,  and 
we  can  be  much  better  employed  than  in  seek- 
ing that  little.  Laughter  is,  in  fact,  a  form  of 
madness.  The  man  who  laughs  is,  for  the 
moment  of  that  senseless  explosion,  no  longer 
strictly  sane.  He  is,  as  we  say,  beside  himself. 
You  will  seldom  find  a  person  of  distinguished 
mind  indulge  much  in  this  weakness.  It  un- 
seats the  reason  for  the  time  being." 

They  proceeded  presently  up  the  mountain- 
side, and  Evander,  though  he  affected  the 
lightest  vein  he  knew,  took  care  to  better 
every  turn  of  the  road  with  a  wise  word. 

He  was  now  improving  Livia's  mind  so  fast 
and  enlarging  her  sphere  of  mental  activity  by 
n6 


LIV1A  LAUGHED 

such  leaps  and  bounds,  that  sometimes  she  felt 
giddy  and  experienced  a  vertiginous  emotion, 
as  of  falling  from  a  great  height  and  clutching 
in  her  passage  at  the  stars.  Her  thoughts 
were,  indeed,  growing  slightly  too  large  for 
the  brains  the  gods  had  given  her,  and  this  is 
a  condition  that  makes  the  head  ache.  But 
even  to  ache  was  something  in  the  passionless 
serenity  of  Evander's  system,  and  she  thanked 
him  for  that.  Festus  had  made  her  body 
ache,  when  he  struck  her  in  his  mistaken  anger  ; 
but  Evander,  after  all,  hurt  most,  and  she  had 
to  confess  it  to  her  soul.  She  misunderstood 
the  symptoms,  however. 

"  My  poor  head  throbs  to  think  how  un- 
worthy it  is  of  such  an  amazing  man,"  thought 
Livia. 

Now  they  passed  a  tiny  farm,  where  poultry 
scratched  and  a  young  he-goat  stood  and 
browsed,  tethered  to  the  stem  of  a  pear  tree. 

"  I  am  reminded  of  another  trifle,"  said 
Evander.  "  If  you've  heard  it  before,  stop 
me. 

Livia  had  heard  it  before,  but  she  did  not 

137 


EVANDER 

stop  him  ;  she  never  stopped  him.  She  only 
concealed  a  yawn. 

"  A  second  of  my  dawn  effusions,"  he  told 
her.  "  It  is  a  fact  that  in  the  hour  of  the 
morning  crepuscule,  I  nearly  always  find  my 
most  successful  verses." 

Then  he  stood  still  and  proceeded  in  this 
fashion. 

At  peep  of  day  the  barn  cocks  crow, 
While  still  the  stars  are  in  the  sky, 

And  men  awakened  are  not  slow 
To  curse  their  importunity. 

At  peep  of  day  the  wise  ones  keep 

Their  watch,  to  tell  if  Truth  hath  stirred  ; 

But  they  who  shorten  the  world's  sleep 
Shall  never  win  the  world's  good  word. 

"  Quite,"  said  Livia — "  quite  beautiful  I 
mean,"  she  added  hurriedly — "  so  true  !  " 

And  then  fell  out  a  brief  but  fearful  adven- 
ture that  might  have  ended  this  narrative 
with  a  very  dark  tragedy.  Livia  learned  how 
Death  is  always  hiding  behind  life's  many- 
coloured  tapestry  and  always  ready  to  thrust 
his  bony  fingers  through  it,  even  while  we  stand 
138 


LIVIA  LAUGHED 

and  admire  the  pattern.  A  file  of  four  mules 
passed  by,  laden  with  charcoal  from  the  beech 
woods,  and  the  last,  without  shadow  of  warn- 
ing, suddenly  lashed  out  in  Livia's  direction, 
so  that  she  was  conscious  of  a  cruel,  steel  shoe 
glittering  within  two  inches  of  her  face.  The 
creature  went  round  the  corner  almost  before 
they  realised  what  had  happened,  and  then 
Evander,  white  with  emotion,  called  upon 
Apollo  to  slay  it.  He  stood  and  trembled  in 
natural  human  horror  at  the  thought  of  what 
might  have  been. 

The  mule  lived  a  hateful  life  and  had  been 
made  sore  and  cynical  by  many  blows ;  so 
that,  when  he  saw  a  happy  creature,  he  tried 
to  make  her  unhappy.  There  are  many  other 
people  who  would  have  done  the  same. 

Evander  took  the  incident  more  seriously 
than  Livia,  who  held  that  a  miss  was  as  good 
as  a  mile  ;  but  he  believed  their  sleepless  god 
had  lifted  his  almighty  hand  between  the  mule's 
hoof  and  the  woman's  beauty.  He  considered 
that  sacrifice  must  at  once  be  celebrated 
for  so  great  a  deliverance,  and  remembering 

139 


EVANDER 

the  tethered  goat  behind  them,  turned  back 
that  he  might  make  an  offering  to  their  divine 
preserver. 

"  It  is  not  your  goat,"  ventured  Livia  ;  but 
people  who  design  great  gifts  to  the  gods,  do 
not  permit  piety  to  be  hampered  by  trivial 
questions  of  fact.  The  ownership  of  the  goat 
seemed  a  small  matter  in  Evander's  eyes  and 
he  took  the  young  creature  from  its  tether. 
Then  he  led  it  to  a  flat  stone,  well  suited 
to  sacrifice,  and  prepared  to  slay  it ;  when 
the  goat,  apparently  suspecting  his  purpose, 
made  a  sudden  and  desperate  effort  to 
escape. 

Now  it  is  a  law  of  oblations  that  the  victim 
which  shows  unwillingness,  or  attempts  to  evade 
the  sacrificial  knife,  may  undo  all.  Bad  is  the 
omen  when  an  offering  follows  not  in  volun- 
tary fashion  to  the  altar  ;  while,  conversely,  if 
it  bow  its  head  and  die  without  protest,  the 
augury  promises  well.  Evander's  goat  escaped 
and  thus  the  higher  meaning  of  the  sacrifice 
was  frustrated  ;  but  he,  forgetting  this  for 
the  moment,  strove  with  all  his  might  to 
140 


L1VIA  LAUGHED 

recapture  the  creature,  and,  for  the  first  time 
in  her  life,  Livia  saw  the  young  man  in  a 
hurry. 

To  behold  this  staid  and  philosophic  spirit 
capering  after  capricornus,  offered  such  irre- 
sistible entertainment  that  the  girl  could  only 
with  a  painful  effort  smother  her  laughter, 
and  when,  presently,  the  nimble  kid  doubled 
between  Evander's  legs  and  threw  him  over  in 
an  attitude  utterly  inglorious  and  undignified, 
Livia  laughed,  because  she  had  to  laugh.  Then, 
feeling  that  she  might  as  well  be  hung  for  a 
sheep  as  a  lamb,  she  allowed  her  merriment 
full  play.  She  had  not  laughed  for  several 
weeks  and  she  made  up  for  lost  time.  In 
truth  she  was  still  chuckling  helplessly  when 
her  companion  gathered  himself  up,  adjusted 
his  flagrant  disarray  and  sat  down  to  comfort 
a  broken  shin. 

She  ran  to  gather  a  cooling  herb  for  the 
wound  ;  but  Evander,  on  whose  forehead  now 
sat  darkness,  waved  her  from  him. 

"  Fond  and  foolish  !  "  he  said.  "  Heaven 
support  the  man  whose  future  wife  finds 
141 


EVANDER 

matter  for  laughter  in  a  sacrifice  spoiled  and  a 
fellow-creature  injured  !  " 

"  I  didn't  know  you  were  hurt,  dear 
Evander,"  she  replied.  "  Don't  think  I  am 
laughing  at  a  sacrifice  spoiled,  or  my  own 
precious  master  in  pain.  I  am  laughing  at  the 
tricks  of  the  clever  little  goat,  who  didn't 
want  to  die,  and  the  madly  funny  figure  you 
presented  when  you  fell.  And  if  you  had  only 
been  able  to  see  yourself  as  I  did,  you  must 
have  roared  with  laughter  for  a  week,  great 
and  good  though  you  are." 

"  Excuses  aggravate  your  offence,"  he 
answered.  "  Well  you  know  that  physical 
accidents  often  embrace  serious  and  far- 
reaching  omens.  To  allow  a  depraved  sense 
of  humour  to  reduce  you  to  the  level  of  an 
idiot  before  my  failure  in  this  matter,  ill 
becomes  any  woman  who  pretends  to  piety 
and  self-respect.  You  stand  much  condemned, 
and  your  folly  is  a  very  poor  compliment 
to  Apollo,  who  generously  prevented  the 
mule  from  dashing  out  your  apology  for  a 
brain." 

142 


LIV1A  LAUGHED 

Then  did  Livia  lose  her  temper  and  make 
answer. 

"  What's  the  good  of  being  alive  if  you're 
always  going  on  like  this  ?  "  she  asked  passion- 
ately. "  You  say  '  Heaven  help  you  '  because 
I  laugh  when  a  bit  of  a  goat  knocks  you  heels 
over  head,  and  I  say  '  Heaven  help  me,  or  any 
woman,  whose  husband  can't  see  anything 
funny  on  earth,  and  won't  let  her  either.' 
You  don't  understand  what  it  is  for  a  simple, 
every-day  girl  to  live  beyond  the  sound  of 
laughter.  I'm  accustomed  to  it ;  I  miss  it 
horribly.  To  go  for  weeks  without  even 
seeing  a  smile  on  your  face  is — oh,  I  don't 
know  what  it  is.  But  it  makes  me  feel  that  I 
never,  never  please  you.  When  people  please 
you,  you  ought  to  smile  at  them.  It's  only 
natural.  It's  only  human.  Even  the  dumb 
animals  try  to  smile — some  of  them.  The 
kid  smiled,  I'm  positive.  At  any  rate,  our  dogs 
get  fearfully  down  in  the  mouth  if  they  don't 
hear  us  laugh  sometimes.  They  understand 
our  laughter  if  they  can't  laugh  them- 
selves." 

'43 


EVANDER 

"  Love  me,  love  my  god,"  replied  Evander 
coldly  ;  and  far  from  smiling,  he  distinctly 
frowned.  "  You  cannot  have  it  all  your  own 
way,  Livia,"  he  continued,  "  and  only  your 
feminine  unreason  induces  you  to  imagine  that 
you  can.  Apollo  never  laughs,  and  since  I  am 
his  faithful  servant,  I  never  laugh  and  should 
think  shame  upon  myself  were  I  to  do  so. 
Laughter  at  best  is  always  foolish,  but  in  your 
case  it  was  unseemly  also  ;  for  consider  what 
you  laughed  at.  You  laughed  at  a  he-goat 
who  deliberately  evaded  sacrifice,  and  was 
doubtless  assisted  to  do  so  by  Bacchus,  or  some 
other  enemy  ;  and  you  laughed  at  a  physical 
misfortune,  which  overtook  the  one  who 
should  be  nearest  and  dearest  to  you  in  the 
whole  world.  And  what  was  Evander  doing 
when  you  laughed  ?  He  was  endeavouring  to 
recapture  a  beast,  which  he  designed  to  sacri- 
fice to  our  deity,  as  a  slight  recognition  of  his 
ineffable  goodness  and  consideration.  We 
need  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  Apollo  pro- 
tected you  on  my  account,  or  on  your  own. 
It  suffices  that  he  did  most  surely  save  you 
144 


L1V1A  LAUGHED 

from  horrible  and  sudden  destruction.  And 
you  laugh  immoderately  because,  in  my  ardour 
and  concern  that  the  omens  are  unfavourable, 
I  tumble  down  backwards,  hurt  myself  a  great 
deal,  no  matter  where,  and  shed  several  drops 
of  blood  from  my  shin." 

Livia  was  utterly  contrite  and  subdued  by 
this  time. 

"  Forgive  me,"  she  said.  "  It  is  the  privilege 
of  gods  and  such  men  as  you  to  forgive  us 
commoner  creatures.  I'm  sorry — heart-broken, 
in  fact.  I  realise  only  too  well  what  I  have 
done,  and  I'll  never  laugh  again  as  long  as  I 
live.  I  was  over-excited  after  my  own  adven- 
ture, and  if  I  hadn't  laughed,  I  should  have 
cried.  And  my  mother,  Carmenta,  taught 
me  from  childhood  that,  when  in  doubt,  it 
was  always  better  to  laugh  than  cry." 

"  Just  a  foolish  thing  your  mother  would 
say,"  replied  he.  "  But  know  henceforth  that 
all  expressions  of  emotion,  save  religious 
fervour,  are  equally  to  be  deprecated.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  in  this  particular  case,  tears  I 
could  have  understood  and  pardoned  easily. 

L  145 


EVANDER 

However,  enough  has  been  said.  I  forgive  you. 
Dry  your  eyes.  It  is  quite  certain  that  we 
shall  not  see  Apollo  to-day,  so  we  had  better 
retrace  our  steps." 

They  returned  to  the  shore  without  farther 
incident,  but  at  the  landing-stage,  where 
Cornelius  awaited  them,  were  certain  persons 
of  the  hamlet  who  congratulated  Evander  on 
the  fame  which  began  to  gather  about  his 
footsteps. 

He  addressed  them  briefly,  begged  them  to 
concentrate  their  attention  on  the  God  of 
Light,  and  so  set  off  for  the  peninsula  where 
now  he  dwelt. 

When  they  landed,  Evander,  who  had  fallen 
very  silent,  went  forward  to  their  home,  and 
Livia  helped  his  father  to  draw  up  the  boat 
upon  the  shore. 

She  liked  old  Cornelius  and  now  related 
their  unfortunate  experience. 

"  He  is  so  wonderful,"  she  said,  "  but 
doubtless  the  wonderful  are  always  difficult." 

"  As  a  rule,  yes,"  admitted  Cornelius. 

"  If  I  could  but  win  him  to  the  joy  of  life 
146 


LI VI A  LAUGHED 

within  the  warmth  of  my  circling  arms !  " 
mourned  Livia. 

Whereupon  the  ancient  man  gave  her  a  very 
large,  dead  fish,  which  he  had  netted  in  the 
course  of  that  morning. 

"  Win  back  that  trout  '  to  the  joy  of  life 
with  the  warmth  of  your  circling  arms,'  " 
said  he,  "  and  if  you  succeed,  then  hope  to  do 
the  same  for  my  son,  Evander." 


H7 


XI 
A  PUTEJL 

WHEN  Evander  presently  heard  that 
Festus  had  not  separated  himself 
from  Livia  under  the  law  ;  and 
when  he  farther  learned  the  woodman  in- 
tended no  such  step,  he  began  to  be  sorely 
troubled. 

Needless  to  mention  that  a  man  of  his  prin- 
ciples had  not  treated  the  lady,  save  in  the  way 
of  highest  respect  and  honour,  until  he  might 
legally  take  her  to  wife  ;  but  the  refusal  of 
Festus  to  comply  with  the  State's  require- 
ments put  Evander  in  a  difficult  position. 

In  those  archaic  times,  it  was  not  necessary 
that  either  a  man,  or  woman,  should  be  de- 
graded, before  the  law  granted  freedom.  Re- 
finements of  that  sort  grew  out  of  a  more  truly 
religious  age  and  the  rare  mental  delicacy  and 
culture  of  our  Church  and  State  as  we  have  the 
148 


A  PUTEAL 

privilege  to  know  them.  But  Evander  could  not 
wed  Livia  until  Festus  annulled  her  former 
marriage  ;  and  this  the  girl's  husband  absolutely 
declined  to  do.  Lesser  men  in  this  fix  had  doubt- 
less fallen  back  on  the  old  ways  ;  but  not  so 
Evander.    It  was  marriage  or  nothing  for  him. 

On  a  fine  morning  he  left  the  peninsula  and 
rowed  himself  across  Larius  to  Livia's  former 
home.  He  had  heard  that  his  action  with 
respect  to  her  had  been  much  applauded  ;  he 
felt  he  was  in  the  right  to  make  Festus  listen  to 
reason,  and  he  doubted  not  that  he  would  meet 
with  a  strong  body  of  opinion  to  support  his 
argument. 

But,  steadfast  soul  that  he  was,  he  forgot  the 
propensity  to  change  v/hich  gives  its  rainbow 
charm  to  the  human  mind.  Much  had  hap- 
pened and  a  new  spirit  arisen  since  Evander 
rowed  away  with  his  father  and  Livia  ;  for  it 
is  a  quality  of  ignorant  people  to  veer  with 
the  wind.  From  that  universal  scorn  directed 
against  Festus,  the  folk  had  first  begun  to  cool 
in  enmity,  and  in  a  fortnight  they  turned  round 
altogether  and  declared  him  worthy  of  applause. 
149 


EVANDER 

To  his  amazement  old  friends  came  back 
and  new  friends  appeared.  His  determination, 
to  prove  faithful  to  the  memory  of  his  wife 
and  his  obstinate  refusal  to  free  her,  awoke  in- 
terest, then  approval,  and  finally  enthusiasm. 
The  women  who  had  thrown  stones  at  him 
now  brought  gifts.  He  found  himself  an  ob- 
ject of  regard,  and  his  neighbours  declared 
that  they  were  proud  of  him. 

And  Festus,  well  knowing  that  the  voice  of 
the  people  is  the  voice  of  the  gods,  grew  more 
cheerful  in  his  going,  and  felt  that  this  sudden 
return  of  popularity  was  an  omen  of  future 
happiness.  He  became  more  than  ever  fixed 
in  mind  to  wait  with  patience  the  progress  of 
events.  He  felt  a  growing  conviction  that 
time  was  on  his  side,  and  designed  presently 
to  restore  his  happiness,  in  the  shape  of  his 
Livia. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  public  ceremony, 
Fabius,  the  smith,  addressed  the  people  and 
commended  the  woodman  to  them  for  his 
great  fortitude  and  faithfulness.  The  busi- 
ness had  nothing  to  do  with  Festus,  or  Fabius 
150 


A  PUTEJL 

either,  but  such  was  the  regard  now  mani- 
fested to  the  man  who  had  lost  his  wife,  that 
when  Fabius,  after  a  brief  address  concerning 
the  matter  in  hand,  touched  the  affairs  of 
certain  among  the  people,  his  allusion  to 
Festus  was  much  applauded. 

A  thunderbolt  had  fallen  in  a  public  place, 
and,  as  usual  upon  such  a  solemn  occurrence, 
the  people  set  about  due  observances.  Their 
faith  demanded  that  the  bolt  of  Jupiter,  where 
it  fell,  should  be  buried  in  a  grave,  with  cere- 
monies and  offerings.  It  was  the  pious  task  of 
those  among  whom  the  lightning  had  struck, 
to  inter  it  in  seemly  fashion  and  to  lift  a 
puteal,  or  inclosure  of  stone,  about  the  spot. 
The  earth  touched  by  the  divine  fire  was 
collected  and  placed  in  a  bottomless  coffin, 
while  round  about  the  lightning's  grave,  a 
wall  was  raised  and  the  event  inscribed  upon 
it.  Onions  and  other  sacrifices  were  then 
offered  ;  and  if  by  evil  chance  a  human  being 
had  perished  at  the  stroke,  he,  too,  was  buried 
and  the  spot  sanctified  for  ever. 

On  this  occasion,  happily,  no  victim  sank 
151 


EVANDER 

into  the  earth,  and  the  burying  of  the  light- 
ning being  duly  accomplished,  Fabius,  who 
officiated,  addressed  the  people.  He  had  just 
pronounced  a  handsome  eulogy  on  Festus, 
who  fortunately  was  not  himself  present, 
when  Evander's  boat  touched  the  shore  and, 
seeing  the  company  engaged  in  some  sacred 
rite,  he  proceeded  to  join  them. 

Being  only  aware  of  the  general  sentiment 
in  his  favour  when  he  rescued  Livia,  and 
knowing  not  that  the  wind  now  set  in  his 
rival's  sail,  he  marched  to  the  midst  of  the 
company  with  assurance  and  expected  that 
they  would  greet  him  as  one  worthy  of  honour 
and  regard.  When,  therefore,  he  faced  scowl- 
ing foreheads  and  clenched  fists,  sulky  eyes 
and  harsh  voices,  he  suffered  much  amaze- 
ment and  a  certain  natural  indignation. 

For  the  moment  the  explanation  of  such  a 
change  was  withheld  from  him,  but  when 
Fabius  had  concluded  his  oration,  the  bitter 
truth  hurtled  about  the  visitor's  ears  and  he 
learned  that,  far  from  applauding  his  achieve- 
ments, all  men  now  held  Evander  to  have  done 
152 


A  PUTEAL 

an  evil  and  unsocial  deed.  Not  a  soul  was  on 
his  side.  Therefore,  instead  of  putting  the 
case  before  the  husband  of  Livia  and  directing 
Festus  to  divorce  her  immediately,  or  incur 
the  anger  of  Apollo,  Evander  found  himself 
threatened  very  sharply  with  the  displeasure 
of  Bacchus.  He  had,  in  fact,  forgotten  all 
about  Bacchus.  Now  was  he  beaten  by  many 
tongues  and  scourged  with  the  sharp  voices 
both  of  men  and  women.  Neither  would  any 
hear  his  defence,  and  when  he  sought  to 
speak,  they  shouted  him  down  and  became 
so  threatening  that  the  philosopher  was 
constrained  to  run  for  it.  He  revealed 
an  unexpected  turn  of  speed  as  he  hastened 
to  his  boat,  and  when  he  perceived  that 
other  boats  were  about  to  set  out  to  his 
hurt,  he  pulled  steadily  and  strongly  into  mid- 
lake  and  did  not  desist  until  beyond  reach  of 
danger. 

Incidentally  he  called  upon  Apollo  to  with- 
stand his  mistaken  enemies  and  drown  their 
wherries ;  but,  to  his  disappointment,  the  god 
was  at  no  pains  to  assist  him  on  this  occasion, 

153 


EVANDER 

and  Evander  returned  whence  he  had  come  in 
very  deep  concern. 

He  informed  Livia  of  what  had  taken  place 
and  she  wept  grievously.  Nor  did  her  tears 
abate  when  he  explained  that  this  evil  thing 
had  doubtless  happened  as  a  punishment  for 
the  frustrated  sacrifice  already  recorded  upon 
their  recent  holiday. 

"  We  must  mortify  ourselves  and  do  bitter 
penance,"  declared  he.  "  We  are  in  the 
shadow  of  our  god's  wrath  and  shall  need  to 
abase  our  spirits  to  the  dust  and  suffer  in  our 
bodies  and  souls,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  upon 
us." 

Then  Livia  began  to  feel  in  her  fair  flesh 
what  it  meant  to  live  with  an  '  intellectual '  ; 
but  the  severity  of  their  fastings  and  the  in- 
genuity of  the  discomforts  designed  by  Evander 
were  as  nothing  in  her  mind  to  the  bitter  know- 
ledge that  he  had  lost  the  goodwill  of  the 
people,  and  that  the  thing  they  had  done  was 
no  longer  accounted  heroic  and  worthy  of 
admiration,  but  quite  the  contrary. 

"  If  they  think   thus  of  him,   what  think 

154 


A  PUTEAL 

they  of  me  ?  "  she  asked  herself  ;  and  the 
reply  of  her  spirit  made  her  complicated 
penance  quite  trifling  by  comparison. 

And  then  arose  within  her  a  mighty  resolve 
and  the  desire  to  accomplish  a  deed  the  like 
of  which  no  woman  had  ever  yet  done.  She 
succeeded  without  difficulty  in  convincing 
herself  that  it  would  be  for  the  best  in  any 
event,  and  such  was  Livia's  desperation  that, 
though  her  purpose  threatened  her  life,  she 
cared  not. 

Had  either  Festus,  or  Evander,  suspected 
her  intention,  it  is  certain  that  he  had  experi- 
enced the  most  acute  anxiety  ;  but  she  re- 
vealed the  matter  to  none  ;  not  even  to  a  god 
did  she  confess  it  ;  for  at  this  unhappy 
moment,  Livia  felt  only  too  conscious  that  no 
god,  or  goddess,  could  be  expected  to  feel  the 
least  interest  in  her.  So  she  determined  to  do, 
or  die,  and  cared  little  about  the  sequel  of  her 
adventure  ;  for  whether  she  perished,  or  came 
out  alive,  the  future  appeared  almost  equally 
unpromising. 


155 


XII 

THE  NAIADS 

A  PARTY  of  naiads,  tiring  of  the 
water-springs,  descended  on  a  night 
.  of  full  moon  to  Larius,  that  they 
might  disport  them  in  the  lake.  These  fair 
nymphs  are  related  to  the  oceanids  and  nereids 
and  share  their  virtues  and  admirable  qualities. 
Naiads  are  the  guardians  of  the  fructifying 
water  on  which  all  life  depends  ;  they  are 
generous  of  favours  and  give  increase  to  fruits 
and  grain,  to  herds,  to  cattle  and  to  mankind. 
They  are,  moreover,  the  guardian  goddesses  of 
marriage — a  circumstance  that  proved  most 
significant  on  this  occasion — and  since  they 
were  the  foster-mothers  of  Bacchus  himself  in 
his  infancy,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  by 
the  will  of  the  god,  though  they  knew  it  not, 
their  way  was  turned  to  the  waters  of  the  lake 
upon  this  memorable  night. 

i56 


THE  NAIADS 

The  tireless  immortals  revelled  in  their 
pleasure  and  plunged  and  dived  with  the  grace 
and  charm  of  gold  and  silver  fish.  Nor  were 
they  too  breathless  to  sing.  They  lifted  their 
sweet  voices  so  that  men  or  women  who  slept 
not,  rose  and  listened  to  the  unearthly  melodies 
floating  through  the  moonlight.  And  keen 
eyes  saw  the  water  broken  into  foam  and  the 
naiads,  as  they  sped  this  way  and  that,  under 
the  cold  radiance  from  above. 

The  beautiful  beings  rested  presently,  and 
one  who  was  unusually  wise,  told  of  other 
lakes,  more  precious  and  sacred  than  Larius, 
that  spread  their  shining  faces  near  the  great 
heart  of  Rome.  She  spoke  of  Diana  Nemorensis 
and  the  waters  over  which  she  presided,  and 
told  how  human  women  thither  went  to  win 
the  boon  of  the  goddess.  The  naiad,  as  all 
naiads,  sang  rather  than  spoke  ;  and  she  sang 
in  verse,  according  to  their  poetic  custom, 
which  changes  not. 

Here  is  her  sanctuary  and  her  grove 

Where  little  Nemi's  jade-green  water  fills 

An  emerald  cup,  while  purple  shadows  rove 
Upon  the  lake  and  the  fair  Alban  hills. 

157 


EVANDER 

Ilex  and  arbutus  and  myrtle  ray 

The  dusky  brink,  and  throbbing  nightingales 
Pour  out  their  muffled  songs  by  night  and  day 

Where  the  dim,  secret,  goddess-haunted  vales 
Open  upon  the  waters.    Yonder  crags 

Hold  up  a  hamlet  ;  roofs  and  mellow  walls 
Of  russet  and  of  amber  spring,  and  rags 

Flash  blue  and  crimson  where  the  sunlight  falls 
In  the  dark  ways.    Beneath,  reflected  bright, 

The  village  shines  upon  the  placid  face 
Of  Dian's  sacred  glass ;  and  on  a  night 

Under  the  moon  of  promise,  in  their  grace 
Fair  suppliant  women  met  upon  the  shore 

To  beg  for  women's  blessings,  while  the  blaze 
Of  flaming,  votive  torches  that  they  bore 

Thrid  fire  through  the  dark  forest,  by  whose  ways 
The  future  mothers  in  a  choral  band 

Passed  to  the  altars  of  the  Huntress.    Soon 
They  knelt  and  prayed,  and  each  a  blazing  brand 

Burned  to  Diana,  till  the  risen  moon 
Ascending,  rained  her  crystal  light  to  cool 

The  sanguine  passion  of  the  running  flame 
That  bound  a  hoop  of  fire  about  the  pool 

And  circled  sacred  Nemi  in  her  name. 

The  naiads  praised  their  sister's  song,  and 
presently  they  were  about  to  return  to  the  shore 
and  regain  their  fountains  in  the  hills,  when  a 
human  cry  arrested  them. 

It  was  a  woman's  voice,  and  they  feared 
158 


THE  NAIADS 

that  some  impious  persons  had  set  forth  in  a 
boat  to  watch  their  revel  ;  but  the  moonlight 
revealed  no  boat  and  the  cry  was  one  of  terror 
and  distress. 

Then  they  discerned  a  white  arm  lifted  and 
saw  that  the  sufferer  must  quickly  perish  if 
they  did  not  hasten  to  her  aid. 

Leaving  a  wake  of  moonlit  bubbles  behind 
them,  the  naiads  swam  swiftly  and  were  just 
in  time  to  rescue  Livia  from  Larius.  For  it 
was  she  who,  inspired  by  mingled  emotions,  all 
quite  beyond  the  reach  of  reason,  had  fondly 
thought  to  swim  across  the  lake  by  night  and 
so  return  to  her  mother  ! 

Her  purpose  must,  of  course,  have  ended 
in  death  but  for  this  supernatural  inter- 
vention ;  nor,  examined  intelligently,  could 
any  sufficient  reason  have  been  found  for  such 
a  desperate  expedient.  No  necessity  had 
existed  to  fly  from  Evander,  for  he  was  not  in 
the  least  that  sort  of  person.  But  she  neither 
explained  nor  invited  his  opinion  of  her 
project.  Instead,  with  a  certain  vanity,  for 
which  there   was    no  longer  any  excuse,   she 

*59 


EVANDER 

believed  that  Evander  would  feel  his  life  but 
a  broken  reed  without  her  and  most  surely 
refuse  any  suggestion  of  a  separation.  For 
her,  however,  farther  life  with  this  excep- 
tional man  began  to  be  impossible.  Thus  was 
she  driven  to  her  rash  endeavour,  for  she  felt 
that  even  death  by  drowning  would  be  better 
than  life  under  these  penitential  conditions 
with  the  servant  of  Apollo. 

Now,  thanks  to  the  protecting  arms  of  the 
naiads,  her  life  was  saved,  and  when  she  was 
able  to  speak  again  and  explain  her  position 
and  wishes,  they  bore  her  among  them  to  the 
shore,  rayed  her  in  a  garment  of  reeds  and  lily 
flags,  kissed  her,  hoped  she  would  yet  be 
happy,  and  left  her  to  go  to  her  mother's 
house. 

Carmenta,  as  may  be  imagined,  was  beyond 
measure  surprised  to  see  her  shivering  girl  and 
hear  how  Livia  had  attempted  to  swim  the 
lake  and  been  saved  by  benignant  water 
nymphs.  In  her  common-sense  way  she 
thanked  the  gods  for  their  mercies,  lighted  a 
fire  of  charcoal,  and  prepared  a  hot  drink  of 
1 60 


THE  NAIADS 

milk  for  her  daughter  ;  and  when  Livia  was 
better  and  more  collected,  Carmenta  sat 
beside  her  and  uttered  hopeful  words,  until 
the  young  woman  fell  into  a  refreshing  sleep. 
Then  her  mother  drew  a  hood  over  her  grey 
head  and  went  swiftly  through  the  first  light 
of  dawn  to  call  upon  Festus  and  tell  him  what 
had  happened. 

She  was  just  in  time  to  catch  the  woodman 
before  he  started  for  the  forest,  and  when  he 
heard  the  tremendous  news  that  his  wife  was 
at  Carmenta's  home,  he  dropped  his  axe  and 
his  basket  and  hastened  then  and  there  with 
mighty  strides  to  the  cottage  where  Livia 
slept. 

He  reached  it  long  before  Carmenta  re- 
turned. Then  he  entered  and  stood  presently 
quite  silent  with  beating  heart  before  the 
pallet  on  which  Livia  lay.  He  feared  his 
throbbing  pulses  would  wake  her  and  devoured 
her  with  his  eyes,  as  the  fore-glow  warmed  the 
morning  and  cast  a  rosy  light  into  the  cabin. 
It  seemed  that  his  presence  had  entered  the 
consciousness  of  the  sleeper  by  channels  un- 
m  161 


EVANDER 

known,  for  she  woke  suddenly,  beheld  Festus 
gazing  down  upon  her  with  wet  eyes,  and 
leaping  to  her  feet,  she  knelt  before  him  and 
embraced  his  knees. 

"  For  God's  sake  take  me  back  to  you  !  " 
cried  Livia. 

"  For  what  god's  sake  ?  "  he  asked,  his  hands 
trembling  to  encircle  her. 

"  For  your  god — for  your  god,"  she  answered 
"  I  will  pray  to  any  god,  or  goddess — anybody 
— anybody  in  heaven  but  Apollo." 

"  I  cling  still  to  Bacchus,"  replied  her 
husband  ;  and  then  he  embraced  her,  blessed 
her  with  heartfelt  blessings,  and  praised  the 
Bringer  of  the  Vine  for  his  goodness  and 
mercy. 

"  The  night  is  turned  into  day,"  said  he, 
"  even  as  my  sorrow  is  turned  into  joy.  You, 
too,  have  suffered " 

"  I  have,"  said  Livia. 

"  Then  let  our  dreadful  lesson  suffice  for 

our  lives,"  he  implored  her.    "  Let  no  shadow 

ever  come  betwixt  us  more  ;    and  let  not  the 

rising  sun  descend  again  until  we  have  made 

162 


THE  NAIADS 

sacrifices,  ample  and  generous,  to  our  blessed, 
all  watchful,  all  kindly  Bacchus,  who  has  saved 
you  and  the  situation,  and  rewarded  my 
patience  and  longsuflering  in  this  glorious 
manner." 

"  Never  again,"  she  assured  him,  "  shall  I 
have  a  thought  you  cannot  echo,  or  whisper  a 
prayer  you  cannot  applaud.  I  will  cease  not 
in  my  service  and  worship  of  Bacchus,  and,  so 
far  as  I  may,  reward  the  mighty  god  for  his 
unspeakable  and  undeserved  kindness." 

"  Who  could  say  fairer  ?  "  cried  Festus  with 
great  joy. 

Then  Carmenta  returned  and  the  man 
stopped  to  breakfast,  after  which  his  wife  and 
he  repaired  to  the  Bacchic  altar ;  and  all  the 
people  grew  merry  and  happy  to  learn  how 
Fate  had  wearied  of  tormenting  the  woodman 
and  restored  a  sadder  and  a  wiser  Livia  to  her 
husband's  arms. 

That  day  they  ceased  not  to  sacrifice  to 

Bacchus  until  the  stones  of  the  altar  ran  with 

fatness ;     and    since    the    sheep    that    Festus 

purchased  for  this  act  of  devotion  and  grati- 

163 


EVANDER 

tude  all  came  willingly  to  play  their  painful 
part  in  the  rite,  there  existed  no  doubt  in  any 
orthodox  mind  that  the  god  accepted  their 
offering  and  deigned  to  be  their  friend  during 
the  future,  as  he  had  so  notably  proved  him- 
self in  the  past. 


164 


XIII 
WOE  OF  EVANDER 

WHEN  Evander  heard  all  that  had 
happened  and  how  Livia  was 
returned  to  Festus,  woe  settled 
upon  him  like  a  stifling  garment,  and  he 
threw  ashes  on  his  head  and  became  deeply 
dejected.  He  remembered  bitterly  how  of 
old  Midas  hunted  in  the  forest,  that  he  might 
find  and  question  the  god,  Silenus,  and  how 
at  last  he  met  him  in  the  train  of  Bacchus 
and  asked  him  the  great  and  grand  question, 
'  What  is  best  of  all  and  most  desirable  for 
mankind  ?  '  At  first  the  deity  remained  dumb, 
then,  urged  to  speak,  he  had  retorted  upon 
the  King  with  biting  words. 

"  Oh,    wretched    race    of    a    day !  "    cried 
Silenus,  "  children  of  chance,  heirs  of  misery, 
why  do  you  compel  me  to  say  what  is  least 
■65 


EVANDER 

expedient  for  you  to  hear  ?  The  best  and  most 
desirable  tiling  for  humankind  lies  eternally 
beyond  their  reach.  It  is  best  not  to  be  born 
at  all." 

For  a  season  Evander  believed  this  dreadful, 
if  Hibernian,  utterance  of  the  god,  and  he 
departed  and  hid  himself  for  three  days  in  the 
loneliness  of  the  hills.  But  he  took  his  tablets, 
well  knowing,  as  a  poet  should,  that  even  his 
pangs  would  probably  seek  to  be  expressed  in 
terms  of  art. 

"  I  suffer  agony,"  he  said  to  his  father, 
Cornelius,  "  and  since  the  suffering  of  an 
'  intellectual '  will  often  produce  very  exalted 
poetry,  or  even  prose,  calculated  to  allay  the 
lesser  pangs  of  commonplace  people,  I  take  my 
notebook  with  me.  It  is,  however,  impossible 
at  present  to  describe  my  grief  at  this  unseemly 
incident.  Do  not  seek  me.  I  shall  return  after 
the  worst  is  over ;  but  when  that  will  happen, 
and  when  I  shall  find  myself  in  a  state  of  mind 
to  proceed  with  my  life  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
my  ideals,  I  cannot  at  present  determine." 

Then  Evander  went  off  and  truly  endured 
1 66 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

excruciating  torments.  He  cared  not  whether 
the  sun  scorched,  or  the  rain  drenched  him  in 
his  lonely  wanderings.  When  he  was  athirst, 
he  drank  of  the  brooks,  and  when  hungry,  ate 
roots  or  nourishing  herbs.  For  it  was  not  the 
season  of  fruits,  or  nuts ;  therefore  even  in 
his  misery,  he  knew  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  return  to  civilisation  soon  if  he  desired  to 
live. 

At  first,  indeed,  such  was  his  confusion  and 
sorrow,  that  he  felt  indifferent.  In  the  earliest 
flush  of  his  sufferings  he  blamed  himself  and 
endured  a  genuine  shame  that  he  had  failed 
to  win  Livia  ;  but  his  self-respect  was  not 
long  shaken  and  he  soon  understood  that  not 
he  was  worthy  of  censure.  As  Festus  before 
him,  he  perceived  that  Livia  was  the  offender. 
She  had  fallen  from  grace  and  shown  herself 
unequal  to  any  life  of  real  distinction.  Tem- 
porary connection  with  her  faulty  character 
it  was  that  had  reduced  him  to  his  present  in- 
sufferable position. 

But  he  could  not  escape  thus.  Logic  re- 
minded him  that  he  had  failed  to  measure 
167 


EVANDER 

Livia,  that  he  had  deemed  her  a  woman  well 
worthy  of  himself  not  many  weeks  ago,  and 
that  it  should  have  been  his  part  to  recognise 
her  limitations  and  make  no  such  transparent 
error.  His  intellect  had  failed  to  read  one 
which  now  proved  vastly  inferior.  Then  what 
of  his  own  mental  gifts  ? 

Thus  he  found  himself  faced  with  the  hate- 
ful conclusion  that  he  was  not  the  man  he  had 
thought  himself  to  be — always  the  most  painful 
revelation  for  any  of  us.  Indeed  it  demands 
some  courage  and  good  sense  to  hold  on  in 
steadfast  fashion,  after  sanely  and  squarely 
accepting  the  fact  that  our  self-valuation  is 
mistaken ;  and  few  are  courageous  enough 
either  to  admit  the  doubt  or  stand  up  to  the 
consequence. 

In  the  chastened  mood  awakened  by  such  a 
discovery,  truth  may  come  as  a  tonic,  or  a 
sedative,  according  to  the  humour  and  bent 
of  those  who  are  faced  with  it.  For  Evander 
(who  after  all  was  an  artist  in  his  way)  it 
wakened  his  muse.  He  sat  on  a  mossy  stone  in 
the  sun,  drew  out  his  tablets  and  composed 
1 68 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

the  following  pessimistic  verses.  But  before 
he  had  finished  with  them  and  was  about  to 
experience  the  relaxation  of  grief  that  creation 
brings,  Apollo's  bow  flashed  its  prismatic 
glory  upon  the  bosom  of  a  purple  cloud  ;  and 
this  accident  inspired  him  to  a  philosophic 
conclusion. 

Thus  he  wrote  : 

My  life's  but  an  antic 
Half  sane  and  half  frantic, 
Half  kicks  and  half  halfpence, 

Half  smiles  and  half  tears ; 
Half  dross  and  half  treasure, 
Half  pain  and  half  pleasure, 
Half  dreaming,  half  seeming, 

Half  hopes  and  half  fears. 

A  seat  in  a  galley, 
A  little  blind  alley, 
A  plunge  into  being, 

A  leaf  in  the  wind, 
A  beautiful  bubble 
On  oceans  of  trouble, 
A  road  where  the  signposts 

Are  all  going  blind. 

A  shadow  that  passes 
Along  thirsty  grasses, 

169 


EVANDER 

A  fungus  that's  fretting 

The  face  of  the  earth  ; 
A  pitiful  blunder, 
A  sorrowful  wonder, 
A  cry  out  of  darkness, 

A  hunger,  a  dearth. 

A  cradle  to  cry  in, 
A  coffin  to  He  in — 
Betwixt  them  I  steal 

Past  the  fun  of  the  fair — 
Chance  calling,  Fate  guiding 
Life's  roundabout  gliding, 
Till  Death,  the  grey  dustman, 

Surprises  me  there. 

O  link  with  thy  glory 
Both  ends  of  my  story, 
Thou  bow  of  my  god 

Spanning  sorrow  and  strife. 
From  osier  to  elm 
Light  some  road  through  the  realm 
Where  Evander  still  wanders 

The  antres  of  life. 

He  liked  this  and  it  cheered  him  up  ;  for 
among  the  countless  disabilities  of  a  poet's 
existence,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  he 
who  makes  things  can  always,  for  a  season  at 
least,  escape  his  darkest  suffering.  And 
170 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

though  the  creative  effort  itself  be  a  suffering 
and  the  thing  made  be  brought  out  of  pain, 
there  is  still  a  parental  joy  that  heralds  achieve- 
ment. Time  may  kill  the  infant  ;  its  creator 
on  returning  to  it  may  destroy  the  bantling 
with  his  own  hands  as  a  creature  unworthy 
to  see  the  light  ;  but  the  gestation  was  not  all 
pain ;  the  maturation  served  at  least  this 
purpose  :  that  it  came  between  the  creator 
and  reality  for  a  season,  suspended  his  life 
sorrows  and  enabled  him  to  return  to  them  with 
a  mind  rested,  if  not  refreshed. 

As  Time  gleans  the  first  whiteness  of  the 
dayspring  and  stores  a  sunrise  wonder,  that 
he  may  turn  its  silver  into  gold  at  even,  when 
dawn  is  forgot,  so  the  artist,  from  precious 
moments  of  love,  joy,  grief,  welds  his  lamp,  to 
light  other  days  and  other  hearts,  when  his 
own  day  is  done,  his  own  heart  at  rest.  And 
if,  as  mostly  happens,  he  lacks  the  authentic 
fire  and  his  little  taper  is  blown  out  even 
before  his  own  pulse  of  life  be  extinguished, 
at  least  he  has  not  missed  the  supreme  joy  of 
creation  and  upon  his  grave  let  it  be  written 
171 


EVANDER 

with  reverence,  '  He  tried  to  make  beautiful 
things.' 

Now  Evander,  at  the  first  thrill  of  his 
rhymes,  grew  comforted. 

"  I  may  find  this  no  good  to-morrow,"  he 
reflected,  "  but  I  like  it  for  the  moment ;  and 
now,  while  in  a  more  placid  mood,  I  will 
go  on  thinking  about  Livia  and  these  present 
griefs." 

He  did  so  and  proceeded  from  the  ad- 
mission already  reached  :  that  he  had  been 
mistaken  in  her.  Then,  with  an  inspiration 
worthy  of  all  praise  in  a  man  of  his  character, 
he  asked  himself  whether  it  was  possible  she 
might  have  been  mistaken  in  him.  The  ques- 
tion interested  him  deeply  and  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  so  :  Livia  had  un- 
doubtedly arrived  at  a  mistaken  conclusion. 
But  wherefore  ?  Was  it  her  fault,  or  his 
own  ?  He  laboured  the  problem  and  began 
to  retrace  every  incident  of  their  unfortunate 
friendship,  when  an  effulgent  ray  flashed 
across  his  vision  and  the  divine  form  of  his 
guardian  god  stood  beside  him. 
172 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

Evander  abased  himself  and  Apollo  bade 
him  get  up  and  listen.  The  Fountain  of 
Light  was  annoyed. 

"  I  have  heard  what  has  happened,"  he  said, 
"  and,  needless  to  say,  my  anger  is  kindled. 
There  has  been  a  serious  lapse  here  and  I 
would  learn  the  facts  from  your  own  lips, 
before  proceeding  to  take  what  steps  may  be 
necessary  for  my  honour." 

"  At  the  moment  when  you  revealed  your 
godhead  to  my  humble  eyes,  august  Apollo,  I 
was  wrestling  with  the  subject,"  replied 
Evander.  "  I  have  spent  long  hours  upon 
these  inhospitable  hills  in  deepest  dejection, 
and  my  spirit  has  moved  in  the  dust.  But, 
thanks  without  doubt  to  your  own  beneficent 
voice  in  my  heart,  there  has  now  come  a 
salutary  ray  into  the  darkness.  From  this 
disaster  I  have  learned  a  mighty  truth  :  that 
man  must,  before  all  else,  cultivate  his  imagina- 
tion and  enlarge  his  cosmic  sympathies.  In 
other  and  simpler  words,  it  is  up  to  us — all  the 
time  and  every  time — to  look  at  other  people's 
point  of  view.     To  be  inhuman  in  a  human 

J73 


EVANDER 

world  is  waste  of  energy  ;  to  stand  aloof  from 
a  gregarious  organisation  is  not  the  way  to  help 
it.  In  fact,  to  be  really  useful,  we  should  first 
admit  the  humanity  of  all  things  human  and 
the  weakness  of  all  things  human.  I  was  as 
weak  as  the  rest.  I,  that  thought  I  stood,  fell 
into  a  grave  error.  The  woman  you  gave  me 
might  have  been  won  by  sympathy,  but  proved 
invulnerable  to  doctrine.  Some  people  seem 
to  set  a  good  example  like  a  trap.  Perhaps  I 
did  myself.  At  any  rate,  I  see  now  that  my 
methods  and  invincible  dogmatism  are  not 
best  suited  to  the  work  I  desire  to  accomplish 
on  your  behalf,  and  henceforth  I  propose  to 
alter  my  system  and  cultivate  a  more  sym- 
pathetic attitude  to  my  kind.  Only  so  will  it 
be  possible  for  me — indeed,  only  so  is  it 
possible  for  any  of  us — gods  or  men — to  fulfil 
our  purpose.  Not  long  since  I  heard  an 
impious  wretch  declare  that  religion  makes 
quite  as  many  unhappy  homes  as  drink  ;  and 
though,    of    course,    that    is    going    too    far, 

yet " 

But  the  Delphic  god  had  heard  enough. 

*74 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

"  Peace,  preposterous  person  !  "  thundered 
outraged  deity.  "  Would  you  teach  ME ! 
What  whipper-snapper  are  you  to  tell  gods  and 
men  their  duty,  and  to  dare  mention  gods  and 
men  in  the  same  breath  ?  Whether  it  was 
your  unspeakable  stupidity,  or  her  own  wicked- 
ness, that  has  led  Livia,  the  washerwoman's 
daughter,  back  to  Festus  and  my  brother — 
my  half-brother — matters  not.  For  you,  if 
you  would  escape  my  swiftest  arrow  yourself, 
double  your  worship,  treble  your  burnt  offer- 
ings and  atone,  in  tears  and  tremblings  as  best 
you  may,  for  your  insolence  and  folly.  To 
preach  to  me  !  To  babble  your  nonsense 
about  cosmic  sympathies  to  me  !  Think  you 
the  cosmos  is  your  affair  ?  Mend  your  own 
dreadful  manners.  Scourge  your  self-conse- 
quence and  ridiculous  vanity  and  leave  cosmos 
to  your  betters.  As  for  the  woman,  she  dies. 
Many  have  I  sent  to  the  Shades  for  less  than 
this,  and,  in  eight-and-forty  hours,  if  not  less, 
the  worthless  creature  will  vanish  off  the  earth 
for  ever." 

"  Do  you  propose  to  destroy  her  on   my 

175 


EVANDER 

account,  or  your  own,  Heavenly  Musician  ?  " 
ventured  Evander.  "  If  upon  mine,  I  pray 
you  listen  to  your  sorrowing  servant  yet  a 
little  longer.  When  first  she  left  me,  I  should 
have  almost  approved  your  purpose.  I  felt 
like  that  myself  ;  but  now  I  have  searched 
the  secret  chambers  of  my  own  heart  and  am 
humbled.  It  was  not  all  her  fault.  Her 
character  proved  different  from  what  I  had 
been  led  to  imagine.  I  will  not  say  that  she 
purposely  deceived  me.  Women  must  act, 
and  sometimes  they  do  not  really  mean  to 
deceive  us,  any  more  than  the  professional 
mimes  of  the  stage  design  to  do  so.  Often 
they  know  that  we  know  they're  acting  ;  and 
many  men  even  like  it.  Livia  is  young,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  when  you  saved  her  from  the 
wolves,  you  turned  her  head.  She  was  never 
worthy  to  be  your  disciple  :  she's  not  really 
built  that  way  ;  while  as  far  as  I  am  concerned, 
she  has  taught  me  one  thing — fool  though  she 
was.  I  am  not  a  marrying  man,  Lord  of 
Light.  Even  had  she  been  more  serious- 
minded,  she  would  never  have  made  me 
176 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

lastingly  happy  ;  and  it  is  quite  certain  that 
I  should  have  made  her  lastingly  miserable. 
These  bitter  truths  I  have  learned  in  the 
solitude  of  the  mountains  ;  and  I  rejoiced, 
even  in  my  sufferings,  to  learn  them,  for  I 
thought  that  you  yourself  had  whispered  them 
to  me,  and  that  my  growing  peace  and  resigna- 
tion came  from  you." 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  the  god.  "  You  are 
merely  following  the  line  of  least  resistance 
and  pretending  that  everything  is  for  the  best. 
Where  do  I  come  in  ?  You  are  great  on 
points  of  view — well,  what  about  mine  ?  I 
suppose  it  has  not  occurred  to  you  to  ask  your- 
self that  paramount  question  ?  I  arranged 
this  affair.  I  had  the  matter  in  hand,  and 
presently,  when  this  clown,  Festus,  learned 
that  he  was  inflicting  a  wicked  wrong  on  Livia 
by  not  divorcing  her,  he  would  have  done  so. 
By  leaving  you,  she  stultifies  me  ;  and  the 
human  being  who  stultifies  me  only  does  so 
once." 

"  She  did  not  look  at  it  in  that  way,"  de- 
clared  the  young   man,    "  and   your    faithful 

N  177 


EVANDER 

Evander  prays  you  upon  his  knees  to  spare  her. 
I  assure  you  that  only  nature,  and  not  im- 
piety, drew  her  away  from  me.  Faunus  may 
have  inspired  her,  and  it  is  ill  to  deny  Faunus 
his  way  in  the  heart." 

Apollo's  brow  grew  darker  than  ever. 

"  This  accursed  woman  has  done  you  much 
harm,"  he  said,  "  and  as  it  appears  you  prefer 
your  own  stupid  voice  to  mine,  I  will  leave  you 
to  purify  yourself  and  regain  your  wandering 
wits  in  the  wilderness.  Seek  me  no  more  until 
your  soul  is  cleansed  and  you  can  talk  sense. 
As  for  her,  I  repeat,  she  dies  at  a  fitting 
opportunity.  My  name  shall  not  be  taken 
in  vain." 

"  You  couldn't  punish  me  instead,  I  suppose, 
Everlasting  One  ?  "  asked  Evander,  and  the 
god  replied  : 

"  Very  easily  ;  and  you  deserve  punishment 
if  ever  idiot  man  deserved  it.  Your  attitude 
to  this  disgraceful  incident  appals  me.  Be 
under  no  anxiety :  your  turn  will  also 
come." 

"  I  said  '  instead,'  "  murmured  Apollo's  un- 
178 


WOE  OF  EVANDER 

happy  disciple ;  but  the  Source  of  Light 
vanished  without  more  words,  and  Evander 
was  left  in  the  extremity  of  woe.  He  knew 
that  Apollo  must,  of  course,  be  right  ;  never- 
theless his  own  weak  and  faulty  humanity 
wept  for  Livia  and  his  poor,  finite  under- 
standing dared  to  suggest  her  destruction  was 
an  extreme  step  hardly  excused  by  the  facts. 
Looking  back  upon  Apollonian  doings,  however, 
he  remembered,  only  too  surely,  that  the  god 
never  threatened  in  vain.  It  was  clear  that 
Livia  must  die  ;  and  Evander  felt  that  she 
and  Festus  had  better  learn  her  approaching 
doom  as  quickly  as  possible.  In  sober  honesty 
he  hated  to  have  to  tell  them.  Once  he 
would  not  so  much  have  minded  ;  but  now 
real  life  had  slightly  modified  his  old  serene 
outlook. 

"  What  will  Bacchus  do  about  it,  I  wonder  ?" 
thought  the  young  man.  He  detected  himself 
in  impiety  and  trembled  like  a  guilty  thing 
before  he  reached  his  home  again,  for  he  knew 
that  he  did  not  see  eye  to  eye  with  Apollo  in 
this  matter :  he  could  not  deny  to  his  conscience 
179 


EVANDER 

that  he  both  regretted  and  questioned  the  pur- 
pose of  his  god.  And  this  was  the  unkindest 
cut  of  all,  for  he  naturally  suspected  that  a 
demon  was  playing  with  his  understanding 
and  tampering  with  his  faith. 


1 80 


XIV 
APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

FIRE-DRAKES  and  furies !  Kill  her 
for  coming  back  to  her  lawful  hus- 
band !  "  cried  Festus,  when  Evander 
stood  before  him  and  his  wife  and  proclaimed 
the  dreadful  tidings. 

Livia  fainted  immediately,  and  when  they 
had  restored  her  to  consciousness,  Evander 
spoke  to  her  husband. 

"  Understand,"  he  said,  "  that  this  dreadful 
affair  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  me. 
While  Livia  was  swimming  away  from  me,  I, 
on  my  side,  had  already  begun  to  feel  doubt- 
ful also.  We  were  not  so  perfectly  suited  to 
one  another  as  we  imagined,  and  she  must  not 
think  that  she  was  the  only  one  to  find  it  out. 
I  had  slowly  but  surely  begun  to  see  it ;  before 
long  I  might  even  have  brought  her  back 
181 


EVANDER 

to  you  myself.  But  Apollo — that  is  a  very 
different  matter.  The  Divine  Archer  takes 
the  gravest  possible  view  of  Livia's  conduct 
and  will  surely  destroy  her,  because  she  has 
made  his  name  a  laughing-stock." 

"  I  never  did,"  declared  the  unfortunate 
victim  of  Apollo's  anger.  "  I  honestly  thought 
I  was  going  to  be  his  servant  and  follower  ; 
but  you  showed  me  I  wasn't.  You  cannot  help 
your  destiny,  any  more  than  you  can  help 
your  nature.  Plenty  of  people  have  changed 
their  gods  without  dying  for  it." 

"  No  man  or  woman  plays  fast  and  loose 
with  Apollo,"  answered  Evander.  "  You  have 
done  a  dreadful  thing,  but  on  my  knees  I 
implored  the  Giver  of  Light  to  let  you  off.  I 
offered  to  do  anything  in  my  power." 

Then  Festus  spoke  and  revealed  the  extent 
of  his  love. 

"  Rather  than  that  should  happen,"  he  said, 
"  I  will  give  up  my  own  hope  of  happiness. 
If  Livia  is  to  die,  I  die  also.  But  anything 
that  can  happen  is  better  than  her  death. 
Since  that  is  the  awful  doom  pronounced  upon 
182 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

her,  you  had  better  take  her  back,  Evander, 
and  train  her  in  the  worship  of  Apollo.  Be 
tender  to  her,  make  her  as  happy  as  you  can — 
and  let  her  laugh  sometimes,  and  teach  her  to 
forget  me." 

"  Anything,  as  you  say,  is  better  than  that 
Livia  should  die,"  admitted  Evander  some- 
what ruefully,  "  but,  I  too,  will  gladly  sacrifice 
my  own  peace  of  mind  and  prospects,  if  by  so 
doing  I  can  preserve  her  alive.  Should  the 
worst  happen,  that  shall  be  done,  if  Apollo 
will  permit  it ;  and  in  my  humble  way  I  will 
try  to  give  Livia  a  happy  life  and  let  her  laugh 
as  often  as  she  finds  she  can.  But  it  occurs  to 
me  that  Bacchus  also  is  a  very  great  god, 
though  of  course  I  ought  not  to  say  so,  or 
think  so  for  a  moment.  Certainly  I  do  not 
myself  trust  Bacchus,  nor  does  Apollo  ;  yet 
they  both  have  the  Eternal  for  father,  and  I 
cannot  help  feeling,  under  the  circumstances, 
that  Bacchus,  who  is  a  cunning  and  crafty 
spirit,  might  yet  save  the  situation  and  get 
round  the  Source  of  all  Light,  if  he  cares  to 
do  so." 

183 


EVANDER 

"  We  will  kneel  in  prayer  to  Bacchus 
instantly,"  declared  Festus,  "  and  we  will 
implore  all  our  friends  who  believe  in  him 
to  cease  not  from  entreaty  and  sacrifice." 

"  And  I,  on  the  other  hand,  would  weary 
Apollo,"  promised  Evander,  "  but  it  is  in 
vain  just  now  to  do  so,  for  I  regret  to  say  his 
face  is  turned  from  me." 

They  thanked  him  and  from  night  far  into 
dawn  ceased  not  to  importune  the  God  of  the 
Grape. 

But  little  knew  these  three  how  near  the 
woman's  fate  had  come,  or  what  great  matters 
had  fallen  out  on  the  mountain-side,  not 
ten  miles  distant,  even  while  they  spoke 
together. 

For  on  a  distant  hill  Apollo,  descending  with 
shining  feet  upon  the  hamlet,  had  met  with 
Bacchus  himself,  and  though  the  incident  ap- 
peared accidental,  it  is  most  certain  that  such 
pregnant  things  as  followed  could  not  have 
happened  by  chance. 

Bacchus  was  alone,  sitting  in  his  chariot  and 
wrapt  in  divine  meditation.  His  leopards 
184 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

crouched  together  drowsily,  waiting  for  him 
to  proceed.  Their  paws  were  tucked  in  and 
their  green  eyes  shut.  The  god's  companions 
had  dispersed  in  the  woods  and  he  sat  in 
immortal  beauty  with  his  young  head  upon 
his  hand,  his  inscrutable  eyes  fixed  upon 
distance — the  true  Dionysus  of  the  Destinies. 

He  knew  that  Apollo  must  pass  that  way  to 
destroy  Livia,  and  had,  of  set  purpose,  hither 
brought  himself,  that  he  might  discuss  the 
case  with  his  elder  brother. 

"  Well  met,  Lord  of  Day  !  "  he  said.  "  You 
come  upon  my  thoughts  very  happily  and  will 
not  deny  me  a  flash  of  the  light  you  so  gener- 
ously dispense  to  great  and  small.  I  am  con- 
cerned about  a  small  matter  touching  humanity, 
and  since  your  interests  are  also  with  mankind, 
it  may  well  be  that  you  can  assist  me." 

"  Humanity  is  very  disappointing,"  replied 
Apollo  shortly.  His  bow  was  strung  and  he 
was  fingering  a  silver  arrow  with  a  scarlet 
feather  and  bitter  point. 

"  We  must  not  suffer  it  to  disappoint  us," 
replied  the  other  god.  "  Consider  first  prin- 
185 


EVANDER 

ciples.  I  hate  metaphysics  and  you  adore 
them  ;  but  reason  is  reason,  even  if  one  be  a 
god,  and  I  venture  to  think  that  reason  rejects 
as  irrational  this  eternal  demand  on  your  part 
for  unsullied  perfection  from  a  creature 
created  imperfect." 

"  Man  holds  a  possibility  of  approaching  far 
nearer  to  perfection  than  is  at  present  the  case ; 
and  it  is  our  duty  to  urge  him  onwards,  not 
hinder  his  footsteps — or  unsteady  them," 
replied  Apollo. 

"  You  allude  to  the  grape,  of  course.  We'll 
come  to  that,  since  you  are  good  enough  to 
let  me  detain  you.  Dear  brother,  remember 
this :  if  the  pendulum  doesn't  swing,  the 
machine  stops.  So  the  root  of  things  is  pulled 
up  and  we  return  to  chaos.  You  are  asking 
for  the  absolute,  but  the  absolute  is  impossible. 
You  know,  as  well  as  I  do,  that  no  such  thing 
as  the  absolute  exists.  Mankind  can  be  good 
or  evil — he  can  be  too  good  as  well  as  too 
bad  ;  but  it  is  beyond  his  power  to  be  abso- 
lutely good,  or  absolutely  wicked.  Why,  we 
can't  ourselves  !  It  is  equally  impossible  to 
1 86 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

have  light  without  shadow,  strength  without 
weakness,  ugliness  without  beauty,  heat  with- 
out cold,  odd  without  even,  the  static  without 
the  dynamic — in  a  word,  Apollo  without 
Dionysus." 

"  Your  vanity  makes  you  think  so,"  replied 
the  elder  deity.  "  I  prospered  exceedingly 
well  before  you  were  born.  You  are  a  hind- 
rance to  me,  not  a  help." 

"  Jupiter,  however,  felt  the  need  of  me,  be 
sure.  But  listen  a  little  longer.  I  argue  that 
everything  is  relative  and  dependent,  nothing 
absolute  and  independent — not  gods,  or  men. 
And  think  not  that  I  care  less  for  the  human 
family  than  yourself.  My  hands  are  full  of 
gifts  for  him." 

"  What  gifts !  " 

"  Yours  we  know,"  answered  Bacchus. 
"  You  bring  him  light  and  music,  the  glory  of 
heaven  and  the  melody  of  the  spheres,  the 
rule  of  self-control,  the  noble  doctrine  of 
self-denial,  fine  thinking  and  pure  living.  I 
present  him  with  the  joyous  grape,  the  dithy- 
ramb, the  drama.  From  me  springs  art, 
187 


EVANDER 

which  embraces  not  only  the  tragedy,  but  the 
comedy  of  life.  My  gifts,  if  you  could  only 
see  it,  are  the  complement  of  your  own.  I 
make  man  diligent  and  therefore  happy.  I 
inspire  him  to  creation,  and  in  his  highest 
creative  moments  he  comes  nearest  to  your- 
self. Yours  the  blinding  light  ;  mine  the 
purple  shadows  wherein  all  born  of  women 
must  pursue  their  toil.  I  loosen  care  ;  tend 
that  difficult  plant,  happiness  ;  smile  on  merry 
meetings ;  inspire  the  race  of  men  to  give  and 
forgive  ;  to  share  their  few  joys  as  well  as 
their  many  griefs  ;  to  find  in  their  weakness  a 
reason  for  unity  and  that  universal  sympathy 
wherein  lies  their  sole  hope  of  reaching  the 
best  they  may  reach.  You  light  all  human  life  ; 
I  lighten  it.  Gentleness  is  mine  and  forgive- 
ness. These,  also,  are  virtues,  for  it  is  seldom 
unjust  to  forgive.  I  am  in  the  thirsty  man's 
flagon,  the  cold  man's  fire  ;  I  know  the  frailty 
of  mankind  and  condone  it ;  but  you  find 
that  to  be  a  task  increasingly  impossible  and 
exaggerate  their  small  faults,  until  they  grow 
large  enough  for  your  great  punishments." 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

"  I  punish  for  example,"  replied  Apollo 
sternly.  "  I  punish,  that  seeing  the  reward  of 
ill-doing,  man  may  rise  above  himself  in  his 
own  interest  to  nobler  conduct.  Man  is  in 
blood  akin  to  the  brutes  that  perish  ;  and 
until  we  break  the  brute  in  him  and  drive  it 
forth  once  and  for  ever,  no  large  advance  can 
be  hoped.  He  must  be  tamed  before  anything 
useful  will  be  done  with  him." 

"  You  cannot  have  better  bread  than  is 
made  of  wheat,"  replied  the  younger  god. 

"  You  can  improve  wheat." 

"  True,  but  wheat  it  will  always  be  ;  and 
you  can  improve  man,  but  man  he  must 
always  remain,  and  his  mortal  ancestry  is  a 
heritage  beyond  even  your  power  to  uproot 
or  destroy." 

"  It  is  within  our  power  to  eradicate  their 
vices,"  replied  Apollo.  "  And  that  is  my  ever- 
lasting purpose  and  steadfast  intention.  You, 
on  the  contrary,  pander  to  their  weakness  and 
exhibit  a  mistaken  tenderness,  which  can  only 
retard  improvement  and  affirm  him  in  his 
false  opinions  and  vain  conceit." 
189 


EVANDER 

"  Vice,  as  you  call  it — what  does  that  mean, 
brother  ?  If  it  means  anything,  it  means  the 
mess  that  man  continually  finds  himself  in  as 
a  result  of  his  nurture,  antecedents,  and  the 
iron  ring  of  circumstance.  We  know  that — 
he  does  not.  Who  deplores  his  vices  more  than 
he,  poor  fellow  ?  But  do  remember  that  you 
are  the  son  of  Jupiter.  Never  lose  your  divine 
temper  with  these  harassed  and  hardly-treated 
creatures.  Recollect  the  grim  legacy  of  the 
blood  in  their  veins  ;  consider  the  little 
measure  of  their  intellect,  the  shortness  of  their 
days,  the  futility  of  their  hopes,  the  pathetic 
limitation  of  their  ambitions.  If  anything 
could  make  me  weep,  it  is  their  ambitions. 
To  be  angry  with  such  a  race  is  bad  enough  ; 
to  destroy  them  because  they  err,  ill  becomes 
omnipotence." 

Apollo's  glorious  blue  eyes  grew  cloudy. 

"  Look  back,"  continued  the  Care-dispeller. 
"  Take  Niobe's  little  business.  You  do  not 
need  to  be  reminded  that  both  you  and  your 
divine  sister  were  long  in  the  cold  among  us 
after  that  ebullition.  Yesterday  I  saw  a 
190 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

human  boy  beating  a  gosling,  and  I  asked  him 
what  the  bird  had  done  to  make  him  so  cruel. 
He  replied  that  the  goose-mother  of  the 
gosling  had  hissed  at  him,  so  he  was  making 
her  child  smart  for  it.  You  see  the  analogy  ? 
How  were  you  better  than  this  little  idiot 
when  you  killed  Niobe's  boys  and  girls — 
butchered  them  one  after  another  because 
their  silly  goose-mother,  in  her  maternal  pride, 
cackled  at  Latona  ?  Niobe  bore  twelve  chil- 
dren to  a  man  ;  Latona  bore  two — to  Jupiter  ; 
and  this  poor  gnat-brained  woman,  proud  of 
her  pro-creation  and  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
quality  is  more  important  than  quantity,  or  a 
god  and  goddess  worth  a  wilderness  of  boys 
and  girls,  permits  herself  a  vain  word  at  the 
expense  of  your  august  mother. 

"  Had  you  reasoned  with  her  in  your  glory  ; 
had  Diana  gone  to  her  side  and  permitted  her 
awful  loveliness  to  burst  upon  the  poor 
matron's  vision,  she  had  repented,  her  face 
upon  the  earth,  and,  together  with  her 
progeny,  made  sacrifice  and  wept  humble 
tears.  Henceforth  you  would  have  been  the 
191 


EVANDER 

tutelary  god  of  all  her  children  and  her 
children's  children.  Instead,  you  sweep  away 
a  dozen  promising  young  men  and  maidens, 
whose  only  fault  was  a  stupid  parent  they  did 
not  choose  for  themselves." 

"  The  sins  of  the  fathers  and  the  mothers 
shall  be  visited  on  the  children,"  replied 
Apollo. 

"  Then  the  human  boy  who  beat  the  gosling 
was  right.  But  you  know  perfectly  well  he 
was  not.  You  cannot  and  will  not  see  that 
allowance  must  be  made.  You  ram  duty  down 
their  throats  till  they  are  poisoned  with  it. 
You  blind  them,  weary  them,  oppress  them 
under  the  weight  of  your  own  perfections. 
You  are  merciless — so  is  Diana.  People  with- 
out a  sense  of  humour  generally  are.  Forgive- 
ness— why,  my  dear  brother,  these  leopards 
are  more  forgiving  than  you." 

"  You  confuse  attributes,"  replied  Apollo 
coldly.  "  Your  leopards  forget  :  they  do  not 
forgive." 

"  Well  then,  practise  the  art  of  forgetting. 
Your  power  is  prodigious,  but  power  without 
192 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

imagination  plays  the  very  Hades  with  human 
life.  Consider  how  they  use  power  them- 
selves, and  shudder.  It  is  exercise  of  power 
without  imagination  that  accounts  for  all  the 
convulsions  of  their  brief  existence.  From 
their  insensate  lust  for  power  spring  their 
cruelties,  atrocities,  misfortunes  and  bloody 
wars.  Why  can't  you  laugh  at  them  some- 
times, or,  better  still,  laugh  with  them,  as  I 
do  ?  Has  my  sovereignty  weakened  because  I 
gave  them  the  grape  ?  " 

"  You  know  what  I  think  about  the  grape," 
replied  the  brother  of  Bacchus. 

"I  do  ;  but  if  you  would  try  drinking  it 
instead  of  thinking  about  it,  you  might  make 
more  friends.  Consider  how  brimful  of  un- 
conscious humour  the  mortals  are.  Why  not 
let  them  amuse  you  sometimes,  instead  of 
shocking  you  always  ?  Think,  for  example, 
how  they  measure  everything  in  terms  of  their 
own  reason.  What  can  be  more  entertaining  ? 
They  approach  Nature  on  a  rational  basis  and 
expect  her — her,  the  mad  mother — to  proceed 
along  the  path  of  their  own  ratiocination, 
o  193 


EVANDER 

Does  not  that  make  you  tender  with  them  ? 
But  I  would  forgive  you  if  you  were  kind,  for 
truth  is  greater  than  humour  and  compassion 
purer  than  wit.  Let  your  sun  shine  on  the  just 
and  the  unjust,  for  its  warmth  may  soften  the 
hardest  heart  as  well  as  gladden  the  best. 
Shall  the  immortal  be  less  patient  than  man  ? 
Observe  how  the  human  father  treats  his  child 
— how  patient  he  is,  how  longsuffering,  how 
quick  to  find  the  bud  of  grace.  Will  you  not 
even  reach  mankind's  own  '  aidos  '  ?  Shall  it 
be  said  that  he  has  conceived  a  more  perfect 
ideal  than  Apollo  can  attain  ?  Why,  your 
servant  Evander  was  sore  troubled  and  wept 
many  secret  tears  because  you  designed  to 
slay  the  woman  Livia.  And  yet  he  had  en- 
dured more  for  her  sake  than  anybody,  and 
might  have  entertained  a  deeper  grudge  than 
you. 

"  And  remember  this  :  it  is  really  something 
to  think  about.  The  god  who  neglects  his  oppor- 
tunities will  very  soon  find  himself  neglected. 
Don't,  I  beg  of  you,  for  all  our  sakes,  forget 
that !  " 

194 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

Apollo  nodded  doubtfully. 

"  There  may  be  truth  in  your  remark,"  he 
answered.  "  I  didn't  know  you  had  so  much 
sense." 

"Still  they  ask  'Why?'  'Whence?' 
'  Whither  ?  '  Still  they  win  no  reply  ;  but 
what  will  happen  when  they  grow  weary  of 
asking  and  find  they  are  able  to  prosper  with- 
out an  answer  ?  " 

"  We  can't  tell  them  what  we  don't  know 
ourselves,"  replied  the  Light-Bringer  moodily. 

"  Exactly.  And  if  dogma  is  once  diluted, 
the  waves  will  break  the  dyke  and  we  shall  all 
be  washed  away  together." 

"  We  can  remind  them  terribly  that  we 
exist." 

"  But  how  much  better  to  remind  them 
pleasantly.  You're  always  wanting  them  to  be 
godlike  ;  but  does  it  ever  strike  you  that  you 
might  try  with  advantage  to  be  manlike  ?  " 

The  Divine  Archer  stared. 

"  This  is  sacrilege,"  he  said.  "  You  would 
strike  at  the  very  roots  of  religion.  You  would 
have  us  cease  to  be  incomprehensible  to  man- 

*95 


EVANDER 

kind.  Vain  Bacchus  !  If  we  always  did  what 
their  reason  and  sense  of  justice  approved — 
what  then  ?    We  should  be  understood." 

"  And  why  not  let  them  understand  us  ? 
Better  that  than  they  should  grow  weary  of 
trying  to  do  so  ?  For  if  once  they  find  they 
can  get  on  without  us,  and  save  time  from 
religious  precept  for  moral  practice,  where  are 
we  then  ?  " 

"  Religion  and  morals  are  one,"  answered 
Apollo  ;    but  his  brother  laughed  gently. 

"  Keep  that  for  them,"  he  replied.  "  You 
know  better,  and  anything  more  immoral  than 
divine  behaviour  on  thousands  of  occasions, 
the  history  of  our  way  with  men  does  not 
hold.  Religion  is  to  morals  as  alchemy  to 
chemistry,  as  astrology  to  astronomy ;  and 
when  humanity  finds  that  out — well,  brother, 
you  may  probably  be  the  first  to  find  naked 
altars  ;  as  I  shall  be  the  last ;  because  the 
more  humanity  in  the  god,  the  longer  humanity 
will  tolerate  him." 

Silenus   lurched  round   the  stem   of   a   red 
pine  behind  their  backs. 
196 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

He  was  going  to  shout  *  Cheer-o  !  '  when  he 
saw  Apollo.  Whereupon  he  first  put  a  drunken 
finger  on  his  lips  and  then  crept  away  on  all 
fours. 

"  Take  it  not  amiss  that  I  have  said  these 
things,"  concluded  Bacchus.  "  The  wisest  of 
us  make  mistakes,  and  error  and  immortality 
may  go  hand  in  hand.  The  sum  is  that,  in- 
stead of  worshipping  you  and  not  me,  or  me 
and  not  you,  mankind  might  do  wiselier  to  set 
our  temples  side  by  side." 

The  ghost  of  a  smile  flickered  on  Apollo's 
glorious  lips.  It  was  but  a  transient  twinkle, 
and  yet  all  the  children  of  men  throughout 
the  waking  earth  felt  a  sudden  sense  of  well- 
being,  a  throb  in  their  hearts  of  gladness  at 
that  splendid  moment. 

"  Say  you  so  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Think  you  that 
your  material  outlook  could  ever  chime  har- 
moniously with  the  spiritual  altitudes  on 
which  I  move  ?  Shall  your  votaries  of  the 
valley  breathe  the  icy  mountain  air  where  my 
disciples  climb  ?  " 

197 


EVANDER 

'  The  truth  lies  ever  in  a  golden  mean," 
answered  Bacchus.  "  In  fact,  for  mortals  at 
present  you  are  Scylla  and  I,  Charybdis  : 
perhaps  their  only  safe  course  is  to  steer 
between  us  and  avoid  both  your  rocks  and  my 
whirlpools.  But  we  will  confer,  brother  ;  we 
will  give  and  take  and  devise  a  new  table  of  the 
law,  wherein  your  counsels  of  perfection  shall 
mingle  with  my  joy  of  life  as  snow  water  with 
red  wine.  So  shall  my  draught  of  philosophy 
be  tempered  by  the  spirit  of  your  exalted 
ideals  and  bring  to  man  the  sweetness  of  the 
gods  in  a  cup  from  which  his  human  lips  can 
drink.  Above  all,  do  not  let  us  drown  him 
between  us.  The  more  I  see  of  man,  the  more 
I  perceive  he  is  prone  to  excess  ;  and  yet  if 
there  is  a  drug  best  taken  in  homoeopathic  doses, 
it  is  religion." 

Apollo  considered  before  replying  ;   then  he 
spoke. 

"  Since  it  seems  you  are  come  to  years  of 
discretion    and   dimly   perceive   some   of   the 
graver      problems      at     present     challenging 
198 


APOLLO  AND  BACCHUS 

Olympus,"  he  answered,  "  we  will,  as  you  pro- 
pose, have  speech  together  ;  and  should  we 
arrive  at  any  useful  conclusions,  submit  them 
to  our  Father.  It  is,  however,  improbable. 
Meantime,  of  course,  I  know  perfectly  well 
why  you  have  detained  me  and  taken  all  this 
trouble.  You  shall  have  your  way.  I  will 
spare  Livia,  the  washerwoman's  daughter." 

He  unstrung  his  bow,  snapped  his  silver 
arrow  with  the  scarlet  feather,  and  flung  the 
pieces  upon  the  earth.  Then  he  vanished  up- 
ward into  the  light  of  evening,  that  washed 
heaven  with  rosy  gold  to  the  zenith. 

Bacchus  smiled  wearily,  while  at  the  de- 
parture of  his  brother  the  Vine  God's  people 
returned  to  him. 

"  I  am  athirst,"  he  said.  "  Bring  me  a  cup 
of  white  wine." 

Then,  turning  to  a  faun — one  Coix,  famed 
for  his  fleetness  of  foot — he  bade  him  hasten 
to  the  valley  and  bring  the  news  of  her  salva- 
tion to  the  wife  of  Festus. 

"  That  done,  swim  the  lake  and  tell  Evander 
too,"  said  he. 

199 


EVANDER 

Whereupon  Coix  leapt  away,  like  a  hart  of 
the  mountains,  and  the  bacchants  burst  into  a 
paean  of  riotous  delight.  It  was  not  often  that 
they  sang  praises  to  Apollo,  but  with  one 
heart  and  voice  they  did  on  this  occasion,  and 
the  Light-Bringer  himself,  hearing  them  from 
his  high  place,  felt  not  ill  pleased. 

THE    END 


PRINTED    BY    WILLIAM    BKENDON    AND   SON,    LTD.,    PLYMOUTH,    ENGLAND 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


Form  r.-n 
20m-l,'41(lli2) 


->LXF 


5177  Phillpotts 
E92  Evander. 


PR 
5177 

E92 


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